Dawn and Dusk
by Morbidly Obscure
Summary: Jagger and Luna live, shall we say, unconventional lives, and they love every minute. Sit back and enjoy the chaos as the terrible twins grow from children to teens to adults. Features Valentine, Alexander, Claude, and more. Wicked fun.
1. Five

**Hey guys, this is my first Vampire Kisses fic, so tell me what you think! I love Jagger and Luna, and I wanted to do some expansion on their relationship as siblings, I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jagger (drat), Luna, or Vampire Kisses, but I own this plot.**

"And the teacher writes on a _blackboard_, but it's sorta green and-" The girl in the pink night-gown cut off as she and her brother yawned in the sort of unison only twins have. They were both exhausted, one past her bed time and the other having been woken much too early by his sister's jabbing.

The two snowy-haired children were perched on their respective coffins, one of which was pale pink and the other pale blue, that they just couldn't wait to grow out of; Luna wanted to get a proper bed, and Jagger just wanted a coffin that wasn't such a babyish shade of blue.

This was their short time together, the few hours between day and night; dusk, twilight. It had become their tradition to spend this time together, playing, laughing, but most of all talking. They told each other every vaguely interesting detail of their day (the term used loosely in Jagger's case), each of them listening to the other with wide eyes and slightly open mouths, amazed by the worlds the listener was a stranger to.

Today, however, Luna was doing nearly all of the talking, her tiny limbs gesticulating wildly and her kitten-wide, sapphire eyes bright with relived excitement as she told her brother anything and everything about her first day of kindergarten.

Jagger had long since given up hiding his interest and was straining his own skinny body forward to catch every word, frequently brushing away the spiky scarlet tips of his otherwise sugar-white hair.

"And recess!" Luna exclaimed, "we all went outside, and I played hopscotch, it was so fun!" Jagger raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Sounds girly."

"Whatever, it was fun," Luna waved off the comment with brie annoyance, " 'Sides, the boys played football anyway," she lit up again, "you would love that Jagger! It's totally your kind of thing." So, as the first stars found their way across the darkening purple sky, Luna told her intent brother, in vivid detail, every playground game from foot-ball to jump-rope.

"Wow," murmured Jagger, slightly dazed by all the new playing possibilities and eager to try them out.

"But it was _amazing_," Luna gushed, "everyone was just like me- well, I was prettier" At this point Jagger couldn't refrain from rolling his mismatched eyes as Luna fluffed her creamy hair before continuing, "no one looked at me funny, or thought I was a freak, I was just normal!"

"You'll never be normal, Luna," Jagger teased dryly. Luna thumped him with a furry pink pillow and giggled at Jagger's expression.

"Are you _challenging_ me?" Something in Jagger's strange eyes glittered. In response, Luna smiled that haughty smile she _knew _her brother hated, and before three seconds had elapsed, the dimly lit room became a flurry of ghostly pale limbs and thrashing pillows, shrieks and laughter coming from the wrestling children as they pummeled each other with cushions. Soon enough, Jagger had Luna pinned down with a particularly enormous pillow.

"Stupid vampire powers," Luna grumbled, glaring with mixed irritation and envy, "_So_ not fair!"

"Is too fair," Jagger's smirk was infuriating, and he knew it. Luna just barely stopped herself from shooting off an 'is not' because if she did, god knows how long they'd be there shouting 'is not, is too, is _not_, is _too_.'

"Do over!" Luna commanded, "Just lemme up already!"

"Fine," Jagger grinned, and Luna knew that grin; _Oh, here we go,_ she thought to herself just before Jagger continued, "but first you gotta say 'Jagger is the coolest, smartest person in the universe, I wish I was as awesome as him.'" Luna rolled her china-blue eyes but repeated, injecting as much sarcasm and boredom into her tinkling voice as possible.

"Happy?" She demanded acidly once she'd finished; Jagger considered her rhetorical question.

"One more time," he decided, "with feeling!" That crossed the line; _Oh, I'll give you feeling,_ Luna thought to herself and, with a wicked grin, leaned over and chomped on Jagger's accessible wrist, _hard_.

"_Yee-ow!_" He cried, springing to his feet like a scalded cat, rubbing his injured wrist as Luna got up with exaggerated ease.

"Whatsa matter?" Luna taunted, making it a sing-song, "thought you were the only one with a bite?" Jagger opened his mouth for a come-back, but before he could speak and their fighting could escalate, their mother's voice floated through the stone halls of the Romanian castle.

"Jagger!" the mother of the twins called, "come down here, Alexander's here to see you!" The young boy scowled and made no attempt to moved; his loser 'friend' was getting on his last nerve.

"Tell him to buzz off!" Jagger cried down, remembering his mother's lecture 'He's a _nice_ boy,' she'd said to an insolent Jagger, 'try to be friends.' Yeah, right! As far as Jagger was concerned, Alexander was a boring baby with the backbone of a chocolate éclair.

"Jagger," was his mother's only response, but there was a hard warning note in her voice; _she _thought Alexander was good influence. Whatever.

"Fine, fine!" Jagger cracked his knuckles, "gotta go play with the wimp," he grumbled in a lower voice. He glanced at his sister who had been utterly silent throughout the brief, shouted argument. Luna's small hands were covering her mouth, not quite hiding a wide, slightly goofy smile, and her snowy cheeks were flushed bright pink. Jagger's eyebrows rose, and he grinned like the Cheshire-Cat,

"You _like_ the wimp!" He exclaimed in taunting amusement.

"Shut up, do not!" Luna's blush deepened to magenta, her voice too high and her words too fast.

"Hey, maybe he likes you too," Jagger was thoroughly enjoying this new method of embarrassing his twin, "Maybe I'll ask him! I'll say 'hey Alexander, do you love my freaky human sister?'"

"Don't!" Luna shrieked, not finding this nearly as funny as her brother.

"Fine, I won't," Jagger grinned mischievously before adding, "today." Luna glared, making it perfectly clear that if he were to act on his words, _bad things_ would happen to him. When the fair-haired boy spoke again, the derision was gone completely from his tone; his voice softer. "I guess I gotta go," he murmured, a bit sullen, "seeya later Luna."

"Yeah, seeya," the girl said softly, and they looked at each other one more time wishing that once, just once, they could switch places. Then, Luna closed the rosy lid of her coffin, and Jagger scurried down the stone steps to the night below, both of them already impatient for the time they could meet again.


	2. Six

*****READ ME!*****

**So I'm back, and I'm changing my wittle oneshot into a big 'ole story, because that's how inspiration is. I'm going to do a chapter for every year of Jagger and Lunas' lives up to seventeen. Please, please, PLEASE review! I want your feedback! Anyway, enjoy the chapter. **

_**~*Six*~**_

"Luna! Wake up! Wake up!" the tow-headed six-year-old shook his sister fran tically, trying to make her _get up already_! The girl on the lacy canopy bed stirred, her heavily lashed eyes fluttering open.

"Wha? She inquired sleepily, "Jagger? Go away." She then buried her head in one of the many pillows on her new bed- she had just gotten it for her birthday.

"No! This is important!" Jagger clenched his teeth, biting down his frustration, and continued to shake his sister. Luna groaned in annoyance before emerging from her pillow fort. Jagger smiled triumphantly.

"What time is it, anyway?" Luna had given up any hope of sleeping and resigned herself to listen- it was too early to be angry anyway.

"I dunno, a couple of hours before dawn, but that's not important-"

"I'm supposed be sleeping," Luna cut Jagger off, much to his growing annoyance, "and it's passed your bedtime too!"

"Oh yeah?" Jagger sneered, put off topic by Luna's accusation, "Whatcha gonna do, tell mom?

"Maybe I will!"

"Tattle-tale!"

"Jerk!"

The two children glared at each other for a moment before Jagger smacked his forehead, remembering the original point of this meeting.

"Doesn't matter," he grabbed his twin's pale writst, "Come on!" And with that he dragged a protesting Luna down the halls to the door of their parents' room.

"What are we-"

"Sh!" Luna's complaints were cut off harshly. Jagger put a finger to his lips in the universal sign for silence and leaned over, placing his ear against the heavy door. Overcome by curiosity, Luna mimicked the gesture, putting her own snowy head against the polished oak, and the following word s from the other side made her jaw drop and her sapphire eyes pop.

***

The two children now sat in Luna's room, on her bed, equal parts excited and terrified.

"I can't believe it…"

"How could they…"

"_Why_ would th ey…"

"I wonder if…"

Neither twin seemed able to complete a sentence until Luna exclaimed:

"I hope it's a girl!" Listening to their parents' hushed conversaion, the purpose became clear, and the shocking information had left both children dazed; There would soon be a new child in the Maxwell family.

"Ew, no!" Jagger's face contorted at Luna's comment, "I'm gonna have a brother!"

"How do you know?" Luna challenged.

"I just do."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Jagger grinned, "and I know better than you 'cause _I'm_ older."

"By one minute!" Luna protested.

"So I'm one minute smarter."

"Oh, get out of my room you goof," Luna rolled her eyes.

"Like I wanna be on your girly '_bed_," Jagger hopped off quickly to illustrate his point, "consider me gone." And with his head held high, Jagger proceeded to march toward the exit.

"Hey Jagger, you forgot your teddy bear!" Luna called, a smug grin on her impish face.

"His name," Jagger said through gritted teeth, "Is Lucifer."

With that, Jagger took the black and red bear with great dignity and left the room, on the way out mutteing, "It'd better be a boy..."

Luna watched the door close and, as she buried herself under her many blankets, thought that it didn't matter whether she had a brother or a sister; so long as he or she was like her.


	3. Seven

**Hey guys, hope you're all enjoying the story, here's the next chapter! REVIEW!**

*** * ***

**~*Seven*~**

Seven-year-old Luna leaned over the sleeping form of her infant brother, Valentine, her thin arms folded over the edge of his tiny coffin. A small smile brushed the girl's lips as Valentine's tiny mouth opened in a yawn, but her grin vanished when the baby's gaping mouth revealed delicate white fangs among the pinkish-red gums.

Luna sighed, brushing some moonlight colored hair out of her pretty face; it wasn't fair. She was already the black sheep in her family, and now she was even more out-numbered. She felt like the ugly duckling; different from everyone around her, from her _family! _She could only hope that one day she'd turn into a swan-- a _vampire_ swan. At that moment an image of a swan with fangs appeared in Luna's mind, and she found herself giggling at the idea, imagining the fanged bird chasing after a group of unfortunate tourists who had tried to feed the thing bread.

Valentine shifted a little, causing Luna to silence herself so as not to wake up her baby brother. For a moment Luna wished she _had_ woken up; she could count on her hands the number of times she had actually seen him awake since he slept while she played and he played while she slept. "When he gets older," Luna's mother kept promising her, "then he won't have to get to sleep so early," it felt to Luna as though Valentine would never get older.

"You got a lucky break, you know," came a familiar voice from behind Luna. Luna turned around to see her twin standing at the doorway of her newest brother's room.

"How?" Luna wondered, trying to think of one way in which she was lucky.

"Because you get to got to school during the day," Jagger made a face, "and I have to listen to _the thing_ crying."

"So sad for you," Luna rolled her eyes, _Ungrateful,_ she thought with a glare.

"I'm serious," Jagger scowled, "I haven't gotten a god day's sleep in _months!_"

"You're the lucky one," Luna pointed out, "you at least get to see him awake!"

"He doesn't do all that much," Jagger tried to comfort his distraught twin," just eats, burps, and cries whenever anyone but mom tries to hold 'im."

"Maybe he'd like it if I held him," Luna murmured.

"Maybe," Jagger considered, "but I don't know how much you'd like it-- he threw up on me once," at this Luna burst out laughing, and Jagger faked a sour look.

"I wish I could have been awake to see that!" Luna snickered.

"For such a tiny kid he has an alarming amount of puke in him," Jagger grumbled, regarding the sleeping form in the small coffin, "but he is a cute little thing, isn't he?"

"He is," Luna agreed, smiling.

"Hey," there was a smirk forming on her twin's face, "I win!"

"What?"

"I was right!" Jagger grinned, "I said I would have a brother, and I was right!"

"Sure Jagger, you were right, whatever," Luna rolled her oceanic eyes, "you really are insufferable, you know that?" She demanded, using a word she had just learned at school.

"Yup, it's my best trait," Jagger bragged, "'Sides, you're just mad 'cause you were wrong."

Luna stuck out her tongue, then, with a sudden flash of inspiration, said

"Are you _really_ sure you were right?"

"What do you mean?" Jagger demanded, smirk dissipating at the catlike look in his sister's eyes.

"All I mean," Luna said, her voice never losing the sneaky quality normally attributed to her brother, "is that you really ought to be sure of something before you go around bragging about it."

"Oh yeah, and how do I do that?" Her twin demanded, his tone challenging.

"Easy," Luna shrugged, something suspiciously like Jagger's smirk pulling at her lips, "next time mom changes Valentine, help her out."


	4. Eight

**Here's the next chapter for your reading pleasure. Thank you so much for the awesome reviews, please, please, please leave some more, I live for them! Guess who finally makes an appearance in this one? Read and find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Kisses or any of the characters in this story.**

**~* Eight *~**

"Happy Halloween!" Luna practically screamed at her brother who had been sleeping peacefully in his coffin.

"Wha--?! Who?! Luna!" Jagger's first instinct was to be furious at his annoying twin sister who _never let him sleep, __**ever**_, then he registered the roughly carved pumpkin in her tiny pale hands, "Halloween!" Jagger exclaimed, pumping his fists in the air.

"Yeah, now get up lazy! Let's go, let's go!" Luna could barely contain her enthusiasm.

"What are we waiting for anyway?" Jagger demanded, springing out of his coffin, "We got stuff to do!"

* * *

Approximately two and a half hours later, both of the borderline hysterically excited Maxwell children were in full costume, chattering excitedly and completely beyond noticing their amused parents as they made final adjustments to the costumes.

"Check it out Luna, I'm a zombie!" Jagger did his best zombie impression, staggering forward with his arms in front of him towards his twin, "Braaaaains," he moaned, reaching Luna and grabbing her sugar white head, "Oh, my mistake, there aren't any in here!" Luna batted him away, scolding him for his immaturity, while Jagger grinned, green make-up dripping down his face, making it look even more cadaverous.

"Well _I'm_ going as a vampire," Luna smiled hugely, revealing her plastic fangs to her brother who, she thought, unfairly already had them, and his were real.

"I thought you were a princess," Jagger said, referring to his sister's gauzy, sparkly pink over-the-top party dress and her jeweled tiara.

"I'm a vampire princess!" Luna explained cheerfully, twirling around so her dress spun. Jagger rolled his eyes.

"Only you, Loon," he said, using the nick-name he had come up with for his twin, "would even think to dress up as something like that." Luna just stuck her tongue out, a hard task through the fangs,

"Jealous."

The inevitable argument was ended before it could begin by the sound of the heavy knocker hitting the door of the castle, Luna squealed,

"Alexander's here!" Jagger rolled his eyes as his sister bolted towards the door before following her, eager to start trick-or-treating, if nothing else.

"Hi Alexander," Luna said, and Jagger tried not to gag as his twin made goo-goo eyes at his friend.

"Hey Luna," Alexander smiled at the less seen and comparatively nicer Maxwell, "Jagger," he nodded to the ghoulishly dressed boy emerging from the doorway.

"Hey Sterling, ready to score some candy?" And for once all three children were in perfect agreement.

* * *

After much walking the trio reached the first house, a big one, sure to give good candy. Alexander began to walk towards the door when Jagger grabbed the cape to his Batman costume (which they had all had a laugh about earlier), pulling him back.

"Wait," He said, "Luna and I came up with a plan to get more candy, you in?"

"Sure!"

After the twins had excitedly explained their plan to Alexander, it ended up taking a great amount of persuading to convince him to take part, Jagger even had to say please, something he was not particularly happy about.

"Okay, ready?" Jagger asked, receiving nods and affirmations, before disappearing into the shadows to his set place, "Go!"

Luna walked up to the front of the house and rang the door bell. A dark-haired woman opened the door with the expected bowl of candy,

"Well aren't you a cute little princess!" The woman gushed, smiling at Luna.

"Actually, I'm a _vampire_ princess," Luna explained, baring her fake fangs, "See?" The woman was a little surprised but all the same told Luna to take a few pieces of candy.

"Um," Luna stalled, "what's in the Three Musketeers bar?"

"Nougat and chocolate," the woman answered patiently,

"I see," Luna pretended to consider, she was about to ask the difference between a Mars and a Milky Way when a shriek emanated from somewhere in the house.

_Bingo_, thought Luna.

"Mom!" Cried a hysterical voice, "There's a bat in the house! Get it! Get it! Get it!" At that moment a furry black bat swooped threw the hallway, right passed the woman, winking it's green eye at Luna before continuing through. The woman gasped and took off after the bat, shoo-shooing at it. Luna hurriedly grabbed the bowl of candy, pouring it into her bag, before taking off into the night, princess dress billowing in the breeze.

Jagger showed up first, laughing and recreating the terrified and disgusted expressions of the teenage girl he had first terrorized before demanding some of the candy from the bowl Luna had taken. Alexander came next, trying and failing to keep from grinning.

"Didja get it?" Jagger demanded, referring to the rest of the candy supply Alexander had been supposed to search for while Jagger distracted the family, and Alexander triumphantly held up a bag full of assorted chocolates which Jagger immediately snatched from him.

"Hey!" Alexander cried, reaching for the bag as the smaller boy laughed and played keep-away, "I didn't even want to do this!"

"It's alright, you can have some of my candy," Luna smiled and offered him the pick of the bag.

"Aw you guys are no fun," Jagger said, "I was gonna give him half anyway."

"Suuure you were," Luna rolled her china blue eyes, "and I'm the Queen of England."

"Of course I was," Jagger insisted, "After all, us vampires need to stick together," and with that he linked arms with his two partners in crime, and Luna was happy to truly be part of that statement, if just for the night. The three of them walked, arm in arm, through the night and to the seemingly endless rows of waiting houses.

**Hey, that's probably my longest chapter yet! Show your appreciation and review =]**


	5. Nine

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever, but this summer is really... weird. Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you like. As always, REVIEW!**

**~*Nine*~**

Nine-year-old Jagger Maxwell sauntered proudly down the eerie Romanian path, the moon flashing on his ice white hair as it hung about his pale, slightly dirty face. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled, breaking up the ominous silence that hung heavy in the darkness.

Despite all this, the skinny boy was unafraid, feeling like he owned the night. Indeed, his dark jeans and charcoal t-shirt blended in perfectly with the shifting shadows. Only his shock of hair and ashen limbs showed through the thick fog.

Jagger knew very well that he wasn't supposed to be wandering these roads alone, but he had ditched Alexander over at an art supplies store back in town (no doubt he was going to hear it from the kid later) and what his parents didn't know wouldn't hurt them (or him).

Finally, Jagger reached the castle, stopping to pet the immobile gargoyles like gruesome stone puppies. The boy stopped at the door before determining that his parents were in the parlor, playing with Valentine; _perfect._

Grinning, Jagger transformed into a bat, making sure he was fully morphed unlike that one time (Luna was still making fun of him) before flapping his leathery wings up to his favorite twin's bedroom.

* * *

Luna was dreaming. In her dream, Luna was older, and she was tall and beautiful and wearing the most gorgeous dress. Now, she had had this dream before, and sometimes the dress was extravagant and pink, and sometimes it was spangled with jewels of all colors; not this time. This dress was red, a rich, beautiful red that wrapped around her and fell in a ruby cascade down to her feet.

Also, for some reason, she was holding an orange.

Ignoring this random detail, Dream Luna glided over to the floor length mirror to get a good look at herself. Liking what she saw, Luna flashed a smile at the mirror, only to discover that she had fangs! She was a vampire! Then she looked back at the mirror, and her reflection had disappeared.

_Oh, right, vampire,_ Luna giggled at her own silliness, not bothering to wonder why she had had a reflection just a moment ago.

Just then something strange happened: the room started shaking. Luna looked around herself, wondering if she was experiencing Romania's first earthquake when the orange she was still holding started talking. Actually, it wasn't an orange anymore, it was a mandolin, and it was talking to her.

"Luna!" The mandolin hissed, "Wake up! Come _on_ and wake _up_ already! You sleep like a log, you know that? Wake up!"

And then Luna woke up and saw that there was no mandolin at all, just her stupid brother.

"Jagger!" She cried, making a lunge at her twin, "You little-- I have school tomorrow! What time is it--"

"Shh!" Jagger clamped a hand over his sister's mouth, "Stop _yelling_! You're gonna get mom and dad up here!" He hissed. Luna narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. Assured that she wouldn't give them away, Jagger removed his hand.

"Well?" Luna demanded in an icy whisper. Jagger grinned, and his mismatched eyes glowed brightly in the dark room.

"Check it out," Jagger said before leaning over and brushing his hair away from his ear for her inspection.

"Yes, Jagger, you have a very nice earlobe, now what am I supposed to be seeing?" Luna was _not_ happy to be woken up in the middle of a good dream just to deal with her twin brother's insanity.

Jagger scowled at his twin,

"No, genius, not that, are you blind or something?"

"It's _dark, _Jagger," Luna snapped, "not all of us can have night vision, y'know?"

"Oh, right, I forgot your just dumb human," Jagger teased his sister, managing to dodge a fist thrown in his direction, "Just look closer, okay?"

Luna leaned in closer, squinting her cerulean eyes before gasping,

"You didn't!" She exclaimed.

"I did!" Jagger corrected gleefully.

"Jagger Maxwell, you did _not _just pierce your own ear!"

"Well I didn't do it _myself_, obviously," Jagger explained, "Alexander wouldn't do it for me so I had to go to that lame jewelry store and pay for it, but I think it was worth it."

"Ooh, mom is gonna be _mad!_" Luna exclaimed.

"Mom doesn't need to know, so long as you don't go and rat me out," He gave his sister a meaningful look, "So keep it quiet, okay?"

"Fine, fine," Luna sighed and smiled at her brother, "it is kinda cool though; crazy, but cool."

"I know!" Jagger whisper-cried enthusiastically, secure in the knowledge that he wouldn't be tattled on. Then he jumped off the canopy bed and began manically rooting through Luna's drawers, throwing things on the floor in his search.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Demanded Luna, as curious as she was annoyed.

"I just need to find something..." Jagger muttered to himself, "Got it!" He cried triumphantly, holding the little box where Luna kept her jewelry.

"You want one of my earrings?" Luna was incredulous.

"Ugh! Do you have anything that isn't either sparkly or pink?" The boy tossed away the box disgustedly and brushed the red tips of his hair out of his eyes.

"I think I have some little gold hoops somewhere," Luna said thoughtfully.

"Too boring," Jagger pulled open a drawer and let his mismatched eyes rove the contents, "Perfect!" He seized something from the drawer and held it up to Luna proudly.

"Jagger," Luna said slowly, "that's a key chain."

"Who cares?" With deft hands, the boy fastened the skeleton key chain to his ear; it dangled down to his shoulder, "I'm gonna name him Skully."

"You are _so_ weird," Luna rolled her eyes.

"I think someone's jealous, isn't that right Skully?" Jagger poked the little toy, making the bones jangle.

"You're talking to a key chain."

"Whatever. Skully and I have stuff to do," Jagger traversed the room and hopped up onto the window. Clutching the frame, he looked back at Luna and smiled earnestly, "thanks for the earring," and with that the boy leaped from the window, stretching out his arms and legs in a spread eagle before transforming half way down.

Luna watched as a bat soared up to her window, winked it's one blue eye, waved its wing, and flew off into the night.

"Showoff," Luna murmured, but she was smiling as she watched the black-purple shape disappear amongst the stars.


	6. Ten

**Hi again! I'm so sorry I've taken so long to update, but the year's been kind of strange. Anyway, from here on out I'm gonna try to update every week from now until March, and hopefully I'll have this sucker done by then. Anyway, this chapter's going to be in two parts, so this is part one, and part two will come in about a week, okay? Thanks so much for being patient with me!**

**~*Ten (Part One)*~**

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Luna sang liltingly as she picked her way through the graveyard, keeping a careful eye out for her brother. This was one of their favorite games. Whenever Luna or couldn't sleep, the Maxwell twins would come out to the cemetery to play hide-and-go-seek.

Presently, it was almost four in the morning, and the dark sky had faded to a deep, soft purple. The old cemetery, with its crumbling headstones, calf-high weeds, and stone angels missing some body parts, brought something out in the twins, some thing free and wild and slightly ghoulish, making their walking into dancing and their running into flying. This was their playground.

With quick steps, Luna slipped from grave to grave and tree to tree, keeping an eye out for her twin's tell-tale ice white hair. True, Jagger was operating with more than a few major advantages, such as enhanced speed, strength, senses, and, of course, the shape-shifting, but Luna was fast, observant, and very clever. Besides, she knew all of Jagger's tricks.

"Hmmm..." Luna climbed to the top of a long, broad headstone that was tilted forward at an angle that made it easy to scale. Squinting into the semi-darkness, Luna eyed all the graves for a crouched form and all the trees for a little dark bat. She frowned; nothing.

Hopping down from the headstone into a particularly large patch of weeds, Luna let her gaze rove over the still, quiet place, relying on the stars and moon to illuminate it all. Finally, she caught sight of something: a crypt, with its heavy stone door ever-so-slightly ajar.

_Bingo._

Without hesitation, she approached the crypt and eyed the black gap in the dingy marble. Exactly as she thought: just wide enough for a bone-skinny ten-year-old to slip through.

The girl glanced in, hoping to catch sight of Jagger, but it was far too dark. Luna's fingers ran down the cool edge of the crypt, coming back with a thin layer of grime. She shrugged, wiped her fingers on her nightgown, and slipped through the crack into the crypt.

It was dark. Not just dark, but utterly pitch black. Still, Luna almost laughed; she wasn't scared of the dark. Slowly, she made her way carefully about the crypt, her hands feeling about in front of her to avoid bumping into anything unpleasant.

"Ja-gger," Luna made her taunt into a song, "I know you're i-in he-ere."

The girl strained her ears, listening intently for any sort of noise that would lead her to Jagger. Sighing, Luna leaned back against the slimy wall of the crypt after giving another it a cursory brush with her finger tips. Luna tilted her head up and closed her eyes briefly as a soft gust of wind from outside blew through the crypt and ruffled her nightgown. The ten-year-old felt herself slipping away, loving the dark, the silence, permeating scent of earth; she may have been human, but this still felt like home to her. Suddenly, two skinny fingers dug themselves into Luna's neck, a highly sensitive place.

"Jagger!" She shrieked, whirling around to slap her twin. She aimed for the face, but he dodged, so she only got his arm.

"Gotcha!" The boy laughed, mismatched eyes glowing in the dark.

"Actually," Luna smirked, knowing that Jagger could see it with his enhanced night vision, "_I_ got _you—_you were the one hiding, remember?"

Jagger shrugged, smirking as well because he knew that Luna _couldn't_ see it, "It was worth it."

"Yeah? Well now you're It, smart guy," Luna shot back, hearing her twin's smugness.

"Alright, alright," Jagger wasn't going to protest, "but we can only play a few more rounds—the sun will rise in less than an hour."

"Right, because if you stay out past that, you're vampire bacon," Luna pointed out happily.

"I'd look like Freddy Kruger," Jagger laughed along as they exited the crypt into the Transylvanian morning.

Luna giggled, "You'd make Freddy Kruger look like a supermodel."

"No _way_; I'd make the Freddy Kruger look _work_!" Jagger joked, making Luna snort.

The pair carried on that way until they reached the tree that had been appointed as the counting spot.

"No peeking!" Luna reminded her brother before dashing off, looking like a ghost flying through the night. Jagger sighed and clamped his hands over his eyes as he began to count.

"One...Two...Three..." Oh, he was _so_ going to get Luna, "Four...Five...Six..." Better do it fast, 'cause the it's almost dawn, "Seven..." Why did playing with his sister have to be so _dangerous?_ Why couldn't she just be _normal?_ "EightNineTen!" But would he really want it any different? "Ready or not, here I come!" No, he wouldn't.

Jagger grinned widely to himself as he dashed through the cemetery, sucking in the still-night air like fuel. Luna could play at being a vampire all she wanted, but this wasJagger's element; he was a vampire, darkness surrounded him, and he was on the hunt—so to speak.

"I hope you're hiding somewhere _good_, Luna," Jagger taunted, keeping his ears strained for the slightest hint of sound, "But it doesn't really matter, because I'm gonna _get_ you."

_Bring it on_, He could hear Luna thinking it. Not the way Valentine could hear thoughts, but the way Jagger just _knew_ his sister well enough to anticipate her thoughts. You could say whatever you wanted about Luna (and Jagger often did,) but she wasn't some fragile little scaredy-cat. _She'll make one heck of a vampire_, Jagger thought with a swell of pride for his twin.

Jagger knew every root, pebble, and blade of grass in this cemetery, so he didn't even have to look down as he stalked across the overgrown grass. Maybe she was over by th—

_Stop!_ What was that? A rustle?

Automatically, Jagger swung around, changing direction to face the source of the barely audible sound.

_Come on, come on, I **know** you're there_

The boy stopped, crouched down instinctively, and listened. There it was! Not a rustle this time, something even quieter: a breath. He was hearing Luna breathing.

_Gotcha_, Jagger though, smirk spreading across his cadaverous face as he made his way over to the edge of the cemetery.

"Hmmm," He stopped and leaned against a tree, drumming his fingernails against the trunk, "Wherever could Luna be?"

The breathing got louder, faster.

_Oh, this is **too** easy._

Triumphantly, Jagger faced the tree that he'd pinpointed as the location of the noise and glanced up—only to see a vaguely luminescent white shape hurtling towards him.

"_Gotcha!_" Luna crowed gleefully as she landed on her brother, causing him to bash his snowy white head against the hard dirt.

After getting over his initial daze, Jagger grinned, "Nice one, _sis_," he congratulated.

Luna smiled as she rolled off him,"Thanks, _bro."_

**~*~**

**So, what do you think is gonna happen, because _something_ will! Free cookies to anyone who can guess what will happen in part two!**


	7. Ten Part II

**I'm people are happy about my return, and I'm even sorrier that I was away so long. I liked Fairy of the Flame's guess of what might happen so much I considered changing what I was already going to do, but I decided to stick to the plan...maybe there will be a bonus chapter in the future? Anyway, here's part two, pleeeeease revieeeeeeew! =]**

**~*Ten (part two)*~**

Two skinny ten-year-olds with bleach white hair trotted happily to the woodland border of the cemetery, debating whether or not they had time for another round of hide-and-go-seek. The boy squinted at the gradually lightening sky and knew that, no matter how much he wanted otherwise, they didn't have any other choice but to head for home.

"It _is_ kind of a long walk," Luna said softly, as though reading her twin's mind.

"_Or_ a long flight," Jagger's grin was wicked, "if I decided I didn't want to wait around for you."

Luna shoved him, "Oh, fly away bat-boy—it's not like you're _that_ fun to be around."

"I'm _lots_ of fun," Jagger insisted before raising an eyebrow, "and who are you calling bat-boy?"

Luna rolled her eyes, "Wellll, _you_ turn into a bat, so who do you _think_ I'm calling bat-boy?"

"That's what vampires _do_, we turn into bats," Jagger argued before his mismatched eyes suddenly brightened, "Hey, do you wanna see something cool?"

"Sure," Luna smiled, and her own face reflected her twin's excitement. If there was anything that Jagger was better than everybody at, it was being a vampire; he was always learning new tricks, figuring out new things, and it often made for very entertaining viewing.

"Alright. I haven't showed this to _anyone_ else," Now the boy's eyes were gleaming. Luna gave a short nod of affirmation, and Jagger returned the motion, "Okay."

Jagger dropped his hands to his sides and let his eyes flutter closed. He steadied his breathing, and his brows knit in concentration. Luna watched in amazement as Jagger's skinny arms slowly transformed, expanding and melting into huge leathery wings. Luna gasped and Jagger opened his eyes, catching Luna's gaze and grinning.

"Cool, huh?"

Luna nodded. Her twin was standing before her, completely normal, except for those wings, "You'll _have_ to teach me how to do that! You know...later."

"Of course, of course!" Jagger promised, already looking forward to the prospect, even though it was practically a million, billion years away, "I'll teach you _everything_."

"Can you fly like that?" The girl wondered, running her deft little fingers over those impossible wings that, given the size, looked more like they belonged to a dragon than a bat. Suddenly, Jagger snorted with laughter, much to Luna's confusion.

"That tickles!" He finally answered, and Luna found herself giggling.

Then, without warning, Jagger went rigid.

"Someone's coming," he whispered harshly, and now Luna heard it too. It wasn't just one person, either, it was a lot of people, and they were _close._ The twins froze like deer in the headlights, and Luna glanced over to see that Jagger's bat wings were still in place.

"Change back!" She hissed urgently. Now Jagger looked at his wings, seeming surprised.

"I—I can't!" He needed time, and he needed to be calm, two things that were pretty much impossible right now. Jagger cast a frantic glance around the cemetery, his gaze finally landing on an open grave several yards away. Not having time to think, the young vampire instinctively shot across the old bone-yard to the tomb.

A dismayed Luna watched her twin disappear into the dirt as the voices grew closer. She too panicked, and she had precious little time to sort out what to do. Well, she couldn't leave Jagger—if Luna left him in a graveyard with the sun coming up, her parents would kill her.

Luna stood at the lip of the hole, noting with disgust the worms nosing their way out of the moist dirt.

"I can't _believe_ I'm doing this," She muttered to herself before taking a deep breath and plunging down the six feet into the hole. Luna landed on the lid of a coffin, earning a muffled shout of annoyance from Jagger, who she presumed was enclosed within the glossy box.

_And the fun just keeps on leaving,_ The sapphire-eyed girl thought caustically as she slipped into the coffin as well, snapping at her brother in a whisper to scoot over.

"Well. This is nice," Jagger intoned, matching the sarcasm of Luna's thoughts. Now that Luna had had a chance to calm down, the reality situation finally dawned on her.

"Jagger, we're in a coffin."

"Yes."

"In a cemetery."

"Yes."

"And there's something under us."

"Yes."

"Please tell me that it's not what I think it is."

"That depends...what do you think it is?"

"Jagger, what are we lying on?"

"...Would you believe that it's a sack of potatoes?"

Luna bit back a shriek.

"Shh," Jagger's voice floated through the darkness, "listen."

Luna did. She would have done anything to take her mind of the circumstances. The congregation had arranged themselves around the open grave, and someone was talking in a low, muted voice. There were muffled sobs coming from above, and slight thuds sounded on the coffin as flowers landed on the lid. It was a funeral.

"Who has a funeral at four-o-bloody-clock in the morning?" Jagger growled angrily, not exactly thrilled to be in this position either.

"I don't know, but I have to get _out_ of here!" Luna had calmed down a bit, but this was still _way_ more than she could handle.

"Look on the bright side, at least are current mattress is still fresh," Jagger offered, only receiving Luna's bony elbow in his ribs as a response.

"The sun's coming up," Jagger said tonelessly after several beats of silence.

"Vampire bacon," Luna muttered, grimly now.

"Right."

Jagger racked his mind desperately for a solution—how were they going to get out of this? Jagger was frightened now, and Luna was starting to whimper despite her efforts to be strong. Jagger made his decision.

"Alright, we're getting out of here," he stated decisively, searching for Luna's eyes in the darkness, "but we're going to do it like proper vampires." He took a breath, and Luna waited for him to continue, "On the count of three, we are going to jump out of this coffin hissing, snarling, and gnashing our teeth. We are going to scare every single member of this congregation so bad, they're gonna sleep with nightlights until they're ninety. Sound good?"

Luna nodded, and she even smiled a bit.

"Okay," Jagger exhaled, "_One_."

"Two," Luna continued for him, and Jagger thought again of how brave she could be for a skinny little mortal girl who wore pink.

"Three," They said at the same time.

_Ready or not, here we come._

The coffin lid burst open, and the children streaked out like white flames. They landed in crouches on the ground, making faces and noises that would give Bela Lugosi nightmares. Screams ripped through the graveyard, and people ran, crying and shrieking and falling as they slipped on mud or bashed into tombstones. Luna and Jagger gave chase, scattering the twenty-or-so people into the forest, who cared about nothing other than escape in their terrified confusion. It was chaos, and it was all centered around two cadaverous, feral-looking children.

Once everyone was gone, it was Jagger and Luna's turn to run. The twins bolted to their home, not so much as easing their sprint until they reached the stone walls of the old castle.

The pair stopped to catch their breath. White hair dripped over gaunt faces as they leaned against the wall. Then their eyes met, and for a few seconds, the children just looked at each other before they burst out into hysterics. Jagger and Luna collapsed against each other on the slick, grassy ground, both of them shrieking with laughter.

"Did you see their _faces?_"

"That one guy was _crying!_"

"I thought they were gonna _pee_ themselves!"

"A few of them did!"

The exclamations died down, and now all they could do was laugh so hard that tears streaked down their alabaster faces until the dawn chased away the darkness.

**~*~**

**Jagger and Luna sure know how to get into trouble, huh? Now press the little button right under this one and tell me whatcha think! Next week is eleven!**


	8. Eleven

**Here's Eleven! This one will also have two parts, cause it turned out to be a lot longer than I expected. Also, it's just a teeny bit late because my computer's being temperamental. Hopefully, that'll be fixed in a few days. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and give me feedback! XD**

**~*Eleven*~**

A full moon illuminated the profiles of three eleven-year-olds as they trotted across the crumbling concrete wall separating the town from the farmlands. The two boys in tight, dark jeans and combat boots battled playfully as they went, trying to shove each other off the wall, while the girl trailed slightly behind. Luna held her glovette-shod arms out like a tight-rope walker as she moved along, laughing, jeering, and cheering on the boys whenever she got the chance.

This night was particularly unique among others because, for once, Jagger, Luna, and Alexander were all getting along with each other almost perfectly. They went along teasing, joking, and giggling as though it was perfectly normal for three preteens to be sauntering down a decrepit, fourteen foot barricade at eleven o' clock at night. The trio was in exceptionally high spirits on this specific night because something new and interesting was finally happening in their boring little town: The circus had come to town—the gypsy circus.

Tinkling music floated from behind a thicket of trees several miles away from the children, sounding like fairy melodies breaking through the heavily perfumed night. It was August in Transylvania, and unusually balmy for the region. Luna was off from school, but she still had to sneak out with the boys to come, which, of course, only added to the excitement. After another moment or two of walking, strings of colored lights became apparent to the three on the wall, and they knew that it was time to dismount.

Alexander briefly gauged the distance from wall to ground before leaping easily from a particularly decayed section of wall and landing with catlike grace on the slippery grass below. Jagger was still sitting on the wall, skinny legs dangling as he watched his friend. His mismatched eyes glinted with taunting amusement.

"Alexander, you seem to be forgetting that you're a vampire," he mocked playfully before jumping several meters from the wall to an ancient looking tree. The fair-haired boy smirked and leaned against the trunk, very pleased with himself, as he stood casually on a spidery branch.

Alexander rolled his eyes, unbothered, "Well, Jagger, not all of us are such show-offs."

"Yeah, Jagger," Luna chimed in happily from the wall, "you're so _unrefined_."

The three broke into giggles at her phrasing, still caught up in their lightheaded giddiness.

At last, Luna dismounted confidently, knowing the two boys waiting below would catch her. She even closed her eyes for the jump, her thick black lashes brushing her cheekbones as she enjoyed the simple sensation of night air rushing around her. The wind felt good on her flushed skin as it caught her hair and made her Lolita dress fly up like a gothic tutu. The boys caught her easily; the weight of a waifish little girl was nothing to a pair of deceptively young, strong vampires.

Once Jagger and Alexander set her back on her feet, Luna smoothed down the pink and black tulle of her dress, and then they were all grinning ear to ear as a single though surged between them:

_Let's go._

* * *

The festival was a mad blaze of sight, sound, smell, and motion. Fire eaters tossed about flames like rubber balls, young and old women sat at booths with crystal balls, tarot cards, and various other divining instruments, young men and women in spangled costumes put on great acrobatic performances, shady looking types milled around with obscure wares and a myriad of odd games. It was bizarre and wild and a little bit wicked. It was one of the most beautiful things that the children had ever seen.

There were spectators all around, on the fringes or watching shows, but Luna, Jagger, and Alexander placed themselves right in the middle of the insanity. Occasionally, Luna would glimpse someone she knew from school in the sea of flame lit faces, but she never so much as acknowledged them; she was in a different world tonight, one that was infinitely more exciting than the one her schoolmates knew.

"This is awesome!" Alexander exclaimed finally, gesturing all around the dusty grounds that, for tonight, had been transformed into an otherworldly vision.

"You know what, Sterling?" Jagger laughed as he took in the brightly colored pergolas, the pulsing crowd, and the obscure, shadowed corners, "I'm gonna have to agree with you on this one."

"Wooow, you two agreeing on something, I think the universe might implode," Luna rolled her eyes and Jagger gave her a playful shove.

"_I'll_ have to agree with _you_ on _that_, Luna," Alexander offered, "won't you Jagger?"

Onyx and Sapphire eyes looked at Jagger expectantly, and the other boy rolled his eyes heavenward, "Yes. Fine. We all agree. We're in a frenzy of pure agreement, okay?"

"We're in a frenzy alright," Luna remarked as she stared in awe about her, "this is wild."

"And _I_ say we make the best of it!" Jagger declared, another point on which they all agreed.

*** * ***

**Heh, sorry that part's a little shortish, I'll try to get the next bit in this weekend, and that will be a bit longer. I wonder what they're going to get into at the circus…? Drop me a review!**


	9. Eleven Part II

**Hey people! My computer pretty much died, so I have to write at the library, but we're getting it back today, so updates will be once a week again. Anyway, here's the next part of eleven! I had lotsa fun with the circus thing; I can only hope that I'm not the only one enjoying it…**

**~*Eleven Part II*~**

Alexander stood silently in one of the furthermost edges of the carnival, watching a man in grease paint and a top hat paint a young woman's face. He watched the man make quick brush strokes across the girl's face. He made it look so easy

_This is real art,_ Alexander thought, _none of those famous guys Dad works with are even half as good as this_.

This man didn't look like any of the rich art dealers Alexander had come to know on various countries; he was impossibly tall and thin, like a praying mantis wearing an ancient looking striped suit with exaggerated coat tails and a huge bowtie. Alexander also knew that this man would never be famous; he would be ambiguous all his life, and Alexander would probably never see him again after this night. He wished he could take pictures or something, but then, this man probably wouldn't want that.

At last, the man finished transforming the woman's face into that of a dog, finishing the already metallic paint with some shimmering golden powder. The face was whimsical, surreal, realistic, fantastical, and just a touch unsettling all at the same time, and Alexander was entranced. Once the woman had paid, thanked him, and left, the man turned to Alexander and winked--he didn't have any eyelashes.

"Would you like a painting?" He questioned in a thickly accented voice, still tucking the few crumpled bills into the breast pocket of his coat, "On the house."

Alexander nodded and thanked the man in perfect Romany.

* * *

Jagger edged away from a pair of pseudo-vaudevillian, mime-like clowns performing in the center of the festival. Now removed from the chaos, the vampire child set to explore the darker fringes of the area, determined to see what kind of trouble he could get into.

The dingy, striped tents created cryptic alley ways in between that stretched in narrow paths before bleeding out into fields. Jagger had always felt most at home in dark, enclosed places…particularly dark, enclosed places where he wasn't supposed to be. So, the boy grinned to himself and glanced swiftly around before starting down the nearest alley.

The cloth walls of the tents created balloons of dim yellow light on both sides as Jagger walked. From time to time, Jagger would stop at a tent and watch the shadow-figures on the other side move about and listen to them as they spoke before growing bored and continuing onward. Besides the occasional bizarre conversation, he had yet to stumble upon anything of great interest. Jagger slipped through the first alley silent and stealthy as a shadow before looping around the back to the next.

"Hey."

Jagger turned quickly to see a gypsy youth leaning against the side of tent, hidden in the shadows just as well as himself. The boy seemed to be around Jagger's age, and just as skinny. He was deeply tanned with black hair and eyes and a long scar across his torso, visible through a satin vest adorned with red and black swirls.

"Hey," Jagger replied, sizing the boy up in moments and deciding that he was very well worth some time.

The boy, who had come to the same conclusion, took a step away from the shadows, "I like your necklace," he motioned toward the blood-filled amulet hanging around Jagger's neck.

Jagger couldn't help but smirk a bit to himself at gypsy boy's choice of object, "Yeah? I like your rings," he replied offhandedly, referring to the overload of jeweled bands adorning the boys long fingers.

"Mmm…" The youth tilted his head as though he hadn't heard Jagger speak. He was still eyeing Jagger's talisman when his dark eyes flared up and a sly grin crossed his face, "Betcha your necklace I can show you a trick that'll scareya."

"Alright," Jagger nodded, accepting the challenge before smiling devilishly, "Betcha I can show you a _better_ one."

* * *

Luna was dizzy. She was dancing in a small throng of people gathered in front of a loose circle of musicians. The strange lights and dancing flames spun as she twirled, and the head-spinning music produced by violins, fiddles, tambourines, and roughly carved flutes swelled over the girl, making her light-headed and giddy.

It seemed to Luna that she went on forever like that, dancing and whirling and letting the music move her. When she finally re-laced the ribbons of her black silk ballet slippers over her dusty feet and pushed her way out of the crowd, she had the sense that she had spent hours in the music cocoon.

Deciding to explore the rest of the carnival, the fair-haired girl set down a warmly lit street of tents that branched out from the main one. There were no performers in this section, but that wasn't really what Luna was interested in right now, anyway.

Here, Luna saw brightly-colored booths with strange but beautiful accessories and fortune tellers with little heaps of bones in piles on their tables. She saw other things too, more intimate things, like mothers singing their children odd, haunting lullabies in languages Luna didn't understand, and young couples in colorful garments and gold jewelry pressed up against each other against sides of tents. It really was a different world.

Luna made her way gracefully down the street, only rarely eliciting any attention from other people on it. At one point, she past a group of boys around her age playing a game on the hard ground involving three oddly shaped dice and a cup covered in scraps of different colored velvet. As she passed by, the boys glanced up at her with mean black eyes and laughed while trading raspy whispers. Unbothered, Luna gave them a bright smile. There was an instant of uncertainty before the boys smiled back warmly at her, and their eyes didn't look mean at all anymore. One boy made a motion for her to join them, but Luna declined politely. The boys just shrugged and called out various farewells before returning to their game.

The girl picked up her pace now; she had the strange sense that something here was _waiting_ for her, something meant just for her, and she wanted to see what it was. She wanted to do something brave or crazy or impulsive tonight, 'cause this was the perfect time and place for it.

Finally, she reached the end of the path and felt a vague sense of disappointment, just before catching sight of one final, tiny booth tucked behind another. Slowly, Luna approached to see a beautiful young woman seated on a tall wooden stool, rearranging a row of vibrantly colored dyes. She caught sight of Luna and smiled at the girl, her dangling coin earrings catching a string of overhead lights.

"Would you like one?" She questioned Luna, her musical voice rich with accent.

"One what?" Luna questioned, already spellbound by the shifting dyes.

"A tattoo," She responded, her full lips widening in a grin, "Special mix of herbs; painted, but permanent."

Luna thought that she couldn't think of any place that would just offer tattoos to unattended eleven-year-olds, but then, this wasn't "any place."

"I'd love one," Luna replied boldly, plopping herself down on the smaller stool across from the woman.

The gypsy woman smiled in amusement as Luna happily handed her a jumble of coins, "And what tattoo would you like, little one?" She glanced at Luna's dress and sparkling bracelets, "A butterfly, perhaps? Or a pretty white orchid?"

"No," Luna shook her head and pointed to a drawing of a black rose with petals laced with thorns, "that one, please."

The woman was only briefly bemused as Luna pushed up her puffy sleeve. She gave a short laugh and nodded as she began to mix the dyes

* * *

As the festivities started winding down, the three kids inevitably found their way back to each other. Jagger caught sight of the other two first.

"Hey, Luna, 'Xander!" His voice carried across the grounds. When he had their attention, he pitched rings across the distances to both of them. Alexander caught his and jogged over, giving Jagger a suspicious look.

"I take it you didn't buy this," The dark-haired boy fingered the gold band Jagger had tossed him, running his thumb over the huge oval onyx set in the middle.

Jagger shrugged and put on his most innocent look, which wasn't all that innocent, "I won it. Just accept the gift, Sterling."

Alexander continued staring at Jagger but didn't say anything else.

"Well I don't care where ya got it, Jag," Luna said happily, stroking the Celtic swirls adorning her own ring, "Thanks."

She gave her brother a quick hug, making his snow-white skin turn faintly pink.

"Whatever, Loon. You're…welcome…I guess." He muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his new black and red vest.

"Hey Alexander, you look like a kitty-cat!" Luna exclaimed, catching sight of Alexander's face.

"I'm a tiger," Alexander informed her proudly in a tiger-esque growl.

"So I can't pet you?" Luna looked disappointed, and Alexander looked extremely uncomfortable.

Upon catching the look on the other boy's face, Jagger thumped Alexander on the back and began to laugh. Luna started to giggle too, leaning slightly against Jagger for fear of collapsing from exhaustion. Alexander just looked straight ahead, unable to shake the feeling that he had missed some sort of joke.

**~*~**

**Yup, THAT was fun…for me anyway…tell me what you thought of it in a review!**


	10. Twelve

**Looks like the two-parted chapters are going to become the norm...actually, this one might have three *headdesk* Um, just so you know, I know absolutely nothing about Luna and Jagger's parents, I'm just sorta winging it here.**

**~*Twelve*~**

"Jagger!"

Jagger's skinny form soon emerged at the stairwell. He could see his mother in the living room, and he gave her an only-slightly-snarky questioning glance, to which she responded with a nondescript tilt of the head. Jagger sighed; he was in some sort of trouble.

Lilith Maxwell sat perfectly composed in the living (ha) room. She was perched on the arm of a burgundy sofa, one hand on the stem of a wine glass and the other holding open a glossy fashion magazine. She took a sip of the crimson liquid in her glass and glanced up at her son with her hypnotic, catlike green eyes.

"I'll bite," Jagger broke the silence as he began descending the stairs, "what is it?"

Unamused, Mrs. Maxwell raised her elegantly arched brows, "I have been finding some very interesting, very _dead_ animals around the house lately. Care to elaborate?"

"Mother, I'm a vampire," Jagger retorted as he reached the living room, "it is in my nature to hunt things down and drain them of blood."

"Yes, well," His mother cracked a smile, "I'd rather not have to dispose of them. If you're going to snack, make sure to clean up after yourself."

"Is that _all_?" The boy demanded, and, knowing that it probably wasn't, took a seat next to his mother on the arm of the sofa. He wasn't in a good mood this morning (read: _morning_) as he was used to _sleeping_ during the day. There was a solar eclipse today, a rare phenomenon that made it possible for vampires to be active during the day, but as far as Jagger was concerned, that didn't mean they had to be _chipper_ about it.

"Actually, I'd like you to go pick up your sister from school," Lilith was back to her magazine, "She can come home early today if she'd like."

Jagger groaned, "Why can't you or dad do it?"

"Because _we_ will be getting ready for the celebration," Mrs. Maxwell's thickly lashed eyes sparkled before she added, "The Sterlings will be there, you know, and Cassandra will undoubtedly have a new dress from some odd country, and you know I _won't_ be outdone."

She said this playfully, but Jagger knew that she was only partly kidding—Lilith had spent an eternity as a femme fatale, and she refused to let anybody forget it.

"Don't worry about that, mom, Mrs. Sterling could never compete with you," Jagger assured her good-naturedly.

"Oh, that's sweet," Lilith gave him a squeeze, "what do you want?"

"I mean it, Mrs. Sterling's kind of a freak, in case you haven't noticed," The twelve-year-old stated bluntly, "she carries an umbrella around...all the time, and I think it has some holes in it."

"The moonlight is so strong!" Lilith gasped melodramatically and pretended to swoon onto the sofa cushions. Jagger laughed at the impression, and his mother chuckled along with him.

"So Alexander's gonna be there, then?" He questioned after a pause.

"Of course," Lilith stared into space for an instant, still cradling the glass that had remained intact throughout her little performance, "and I expect you to _behave_."

"That's a lot to expect," Jagger grumbled, "especially when Alexander's involved."

"Jagger."

Oh no, it was the Warning Tone.

"Mom, he's pathetic! Sometimes I swear, he doesn't even know he's a vampire," The boy argued.

"It's a phase, I'm sure," Lilith chided her son's outburst, "besides, all that moving around is probably hard on him. Can you imagine all the time he has to spend surrounded by nothing but _humans_?"

"Yeah, well—" Jagger started to respond, but he was cut off when Lilith turned a page in her magazine.

"Oh, he looks _delicious_!" She exclaimed as she dug out a pen from a pocket of her black satin night dress. Jagger rolled his mismatched eyes as she jotted something down on the notepad she always kept with her. His mother had been at this for as long as Jagger could remember; she was composing a sort of bucket list. Lilith spent hours leafing through magazines and copying down names of models to whom she planned... "visit" sometime in the next century.

"Uh, mom? Your fangs..."

"Oh!" Lilith's hand shot to her mouth as she worked to retract her accidentally distended fangs. Jagger looked away in embarrassment.

"Leave them, dearest" A warm voice growled from the doorway, "I find you positively _intoxicating_ with your fangs out."

"Gabriel! You know how I feel about you sneaking about," Lilith snapped at Jagger's father, not sounding bothered in the least.

"Yes. I know you love it," Gabriel Maxwell replied matter-of-factly, "'Evening, Jagger," He added, winking a violet-blue eye at his son.

"'Afternoon, Dad," Jagger corrected as he started to edge away; he didn't want his parents to get too involved with each other while he was still in the room.

Too late. Jagger's father had moved closer, and Lilith had taken the opportunity to wrap her long legs around his torso. Jagger groaned inwardly—they were always like this. It made social gatherings kind of awkward, but interesting.

"Get a crypt," Jagger suggested as he slipped out of the room.

* * *

"Hey Val," Jagger reappeared at the doorway of his brother's room, "Come on. We're going for a walk."

The six-year-old glanced up enthusiastically from under his shaggy white bangs at his older brother, "Cool! Can I bring my board?"

"Sure, but move it. We don't have all day," Jagger grinned at the phrasing. Man it felt cool to say that.

* * *

"This is cool. It's like night during the day, only it's all weird and blue-purplish," Valentine chattered happily as he rolled along beside Jagger on his skateboard, "Hey, wanna see me grind that tree root?"

"Not now, Mom would stake me if you got hurt before the party," Valentine's face fell a bit at this, so Jagger rushed to say, "but another time."

"'Kay. That works. I get really bored, ya know," Valentine contemplated, "there are no kids my age around."

By "kids" Valentine meant vampires. Sure, he loved hanging out with his siblings, and his siblings loved him, but that didn't mean Jagger was fine with his baby brother tagging along with him and his friends, or that Luna enjoyed having Valentine bug her while she did her homework. That was why Valentine took up skateboarding—it took commitment, patience, and focus, and it was something he could do on his own without wanting anyone else around.

Valentine's favorite place these days was the park. He brought his skateboard there at night and hung around on the abandoned playground equipment, or he'd turn into a bat and play with the real bats that filled the sky. Sometimes he'd buy a bunch of raw meat and feed it to the wolves that came around late at night. Then, if he was feeling particularly mischievous, he'd zip through nighttime streets on his skateboard and shove the remaining meat in peoples' mailboxes.

Still, he'd much rather hang out with his big brother.

"Well, you could always play with the mortal kids," Jagger jibed sneeringly.

"I just wanna play with _someone_," Valentine missed the sarcasm in the older boy's voice, "like if we moved somewhere, there would be other kids. Alexander moves around all the time, I wish we went on trips all the time like he does."

"What, are you starting to like Alexander or something?" Jagger's eyebrows arched at the dreamy tone in his brother's voice.

"No!" Valentine shook his head vigorously. He knew that Jagger was didn't like Alexander much, and if Jagger didn't like him, then Valentine didn't like him either, "I just wish we could do what he does."

"Traveling would be kind of cool, I guess," Jagger agreed noncommittally. Frankly, he loved Romania, although there was a definite allure to other places in the world, and he did intend to visit all the important places sometime, though he fully planned on returning to Transylvania afterward.

"You and me should go somewhere fun together sometime. Just you and me, no parents," Valentine was going on contemplatively, "Actually, Luna should come too, so it would be the three of us. That would be great."

"Actually, yeah," Jagger was warming to the idea. When he and Luna were bigger, and when Luna was a vampire, they should do something together, and Valentine would be older then too. Jagger would love to find out what the three of them could get into together, "yeah, that would be pretty great."

"Mm-hmm," Valentine's nodded and there was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again, "Hey Jagger, can you promise me something?"

Jagger stopped and looked into Valentine's trusting emerald eyes. Normally, he wouldn't agree to any promise in advance, but Valentine was different, "Alright. What?"

"Promise me that if you or Luna ever go somewhere, you'll take me with you. Promise that you guys won't ever just leave me," Valentine continued to look at his brother earnestly.

"Sure, I promise. Cross my heart with a wooden stake," Jagger agreed eventually. Valentine's face lit up, and Jagger decided that the promise was well worth it.

For a while, Valentine was content with the silence, but after the two boys continued on their way, he asked, with all seriousness, "Who do you think would win in a fair fight, Batman or Spiderman?"

"There's no such thing as a fair fight," Jagger answered abstractedly. There was another brief silence as Valentine though about this, then,

"Okay, but who would _win_?"

*** * ***

**Hehe, Valentine needed a little love. Sorry if I fail at writing him, he kind of got the short end of the characterization stick in the books, so I don't have too much to work with. Oh, and about Jagger and Luna's parents...I'm not sure what I was thinking. It just seemed to work. Anyway, as always, drop a review and tell me whatcha thought!**


	11. Twelve Part II

**Here's the next part 2, the next chapter will be the celebration. Ugh, I'm not sure about this bit, it just seems...wrong. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Anyway, keep those awesome reviews coming! I love reading them, and there would really be no story if not for you guys. You rock!**

**~*Twelve Part II*~**

Luna examined the minor chips in her bubblegum pink nail polish as she feigned interest in a story about this, like, totally hawt guy Stacy had met over the weekend. Don't get the wrong idea or anything—Luna loved gossip as much as the next preteen, but Stacy's habit of lying bordered on pathological thus making her sordid stories amusing, but not very credible.Besides, Luna just wasn't into it today, and she was heavily tempted to scream at her friends to just _shut up already_. Needless to say, the normally bubbly girl was not in a good mood this morning.

Simply put, Luna didn't want to _be_ here right now. It was the day of the solar eclipse, a rare phenomenon, and she was going to miss the celebration, just like she missed out on everything cool that her family did.

_I'm missing a vampire party for **this**,_ Luna thought to no one in particular, _Do you know how much **fun **vampire parties are? They're awesome._

She had, after all, attended at least a few in her twelve years. Not nearly as many as her twin brother, of course, or even her younger brother, but enough to know what she was missing out on.

"Hey! Earth to Looney Toons!" Carrie-Anne knocked her knuckles lightly against Luna's head, "We are requesting transmission, space cadet."

There were a lot of giggles until Luna snapped her head towards Carrie-Anne, "What?"

"You were way zoned out," The other girl shrugged, blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes, "Don't flip."

"Yeah, take a pill, Looney Toons," Beryl grumbled.

Luna sighed; there was that nick-name again. Only her friends called her it, and it was an affectionate name, but it still got on her nerves. Somehow, it was different from when Jagger called her Loon, but maybe that was just because she didn't hear that particular moniker pulled into use all that often thanks to the whole night-day thing.

"Whatever," Luna rolled her cerulean eyes, before looking up at Stacy with a huge fake smile, "please continue."

Stacy gave Luna a wary look before moving on with her story, "Annnyway..."

And the blabber started again.

Luna turned her gaze toward the discolored sky and let out a slow breath. As if in response, a gust of wind assaulted her face like a slap. Luna huddled tighter into the hoodie she'd...borrowed from Jagger's room whilst he was dead to the world. It was plain black with a garish logo for some obscure band on the chest—simple, not too boyish, and Luna liked it. She realized she'd zoned out again, but she didn't think it was worth the effort to tune back in. She was restless.

Honestly, at this moment, Luna didn't really care if her friends thought she was being spazzy. Luna wasn't sure they were even her friends, really. Sure they called each other friends and had sleep overs and were practically glued to each other at school, but they didn't even really _like_ each other. From what Luna could tell, the group had just been lumped together since kindergarten because they got good grades, looked pretty, and boys liked them. Weird, but that was just how things worked.

"Whoa. Cutie alert," Stacy stopped abruptly and pointed toward the front gate of the playground.

Imagine Luna's surprise when she followed the other girl's finger to see her twin brother shifting unconsciously from foot to foot as he took in the school grounds with a critical eye.

"That's my brother!" Luna blurted, waving happily toward the boy at the gate. Jagger caught Luna's eye and grinned, slipping easily through the gate.

"Whoa," Stacy repeated emphatically.

"Geezums, where's _he_ been hiding," Carrie-Ann breathed.

If she'd known her friends would react _this_ way towards her brother, Luna would have brought a gag bag. It was creepy. Opting to escape the prepubescent mush-fest, Luna stood up without another word and trotted gracefully across the blacktop towards Jagger.

"What are you _doing_ here?" Luna demanded, delighted and confounded at her brother's appearance.

"Busting you out," Jagger replied, seeming surprisingly at ease with the setting, "Come on, you're ditching. Mom's orders."

"Yay!" Luna cheered, then she frowned slightly, "but it's recess, the best class of the day. Let's just stay until it's over."

"Well..." Jagger's mismatched eyes wandered over toward a soccer game taking place a little ways down the blacktop, "just a few more minutes, then."

"Coolness," Luna said before heading towards another group of girls playing MASH with chalk. She wasn't sure she could take her sort-of friends for much longer.

On the opposite side of the blacktop, Valentine had found himself in the center of a circle of adoring eighth grade girls who cooed and fussed over how _adorable_ he was as he showed them tricks on his skateboard. Things could definitely be worse.

Jagger watched with great interest as the soccer ball rolled and flicked from foot to sneakered foot in front of him. His naturally intense gaze was particularly focused at the moment as he tried to absorb all of the rules and tricks of the trade involved in this rather mysterious game. For quite a while, none of the players even noticed the skinny, black clad ghost of a boy standing just a few feet away from them. However, attention inevitably shifted to Jagger.

"Hey, Night of the Living Dead," A bulky boy with dark brown hair called out after a while as the other boys formed a loose semi-circle behind him. Jagger looked up with intentional slowness, piercing the other child with his gaze. The other boy felt a strange shiver pass over him, but he wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, so he ignored it, "Whaterya doing?"

"I'm watching you play," Jagger refrained from adding anything else onto that, knowing that a fight with a mortal boy would go over with his parents about as well as a lead balloon. Besides, his tone alone implied how he felt about his potential antagonizer.

The latter failed to get the message. He took a step towards Jagger in hopes of intimidating him; no dice, "You want to play, or something?"

"Yes, I do," Jagger answered honestly but in a rather bored tone.

"Well then c'mon and play," The boy invited warmly. Jagger didn't move; what kind of an idiot did this kid take him for? It didn't matter because the bigger boy changed his mind, "or maybe you should go play hopscotch with the _girls_." Jagger gave him a dark look, "Nah, I'm just kidding you can play," The kid seemed to find this very funny because he was still laughing when he finished with, "Get out of here, freak."

"Whatever you say," Jagger muttered and turned to leave, "you indecisive _moron_."

Well, apparently the other boy was intelligent enough to know that Jagger had just insulted him, so he reached forward and shoved Jagger, who barely budged. Still, it was enough provocation to make Jagger whirl around in fury.

"You really shouldn't have done that," the boy hissed, a small, strange smile appearing on his cadaverous face.

"Dude...your eyes!" Another player with sandy hair gasped, ever-so-observantly noticing that Jagger's eyes had gone red.

However, before anybody else could give Jagger closer inspection, Luna was standing in front of her brother, her porcelain skin flushed red with anger. She had caught sight of the standoff a little while back, and she wasn't happy. It was funny; Luna never would have thought in a million years that she could feel protective of Jagger, but the sight of her brother being picked on, however ineffectually, infuriated her. Besides, she knew that her twin couldn't do anything about the harassment without getting in trouble with their parents at best, or revealing vampirism to humans at worst. Finally, Luna had something to take her bad mood out on.

Luna stalked forward, easily breaking up the loose huddle of boys. A few steps, and she had singled out the kid who'd started it all. The heavy boy's eyes drifted to Luna's pink leather miniskirt, and Jagger wanted even more to ring the mortal's worthless little neck. But Luna wasn't paying any attention to this. Another step, and she lunged forward impulsively to push him. Surprised, the stocky boy stumbled back a bit. Adrenaline hit Luna's bloodstream hard, and she realized that this was kinda-sorta fun.

"Hey--!" He started to cry out, amazed that pretty, petite Luna Maxwell had just shoved him.

"You vant to mess with my brother?" She was so angry her accent poked through. She gave another shove, "Huh?"

The dark-haired boy was suddenly aware of the mistake he'd made, and he was also all too aware of the fact that he couldn't shove Luna back because she was a girl, a girl that he—like every other sixth grade male in the school—had a crush on. He was now in a similar position to the one Jagger had been in just moments before.

"Do you know _why_ my brother doesn't go to school like me?" Luna was going on, suddenly inspired, "He's crazy. He once sent a kid to a hospital using his bare hands. He could crush you like a bug."

Well, that last part was true, anyway.

The bigger boy paled, and his circle of friends slunk back away from the twins.

"So ya'd better watch out," At this Luna turned around sharply and started walking back, "Come on Jagger, let's go."

The players had broken up now, eager to be away from the allegedly unhinged Jagger, except for the heavy-set boy, who was still glued to the spot, eying Jagger fearfully. Unable to resist taking advantage of this silence, Jagger smiled evilly. With a swift movement, he pinned the bigger boy to the chain link fence.

"She's right, you know," Jagger snarled in his ear, "I could rip you limb from limb, so watch your...neck."

Abruptly, Jagger let go, and the boy slumped on the ground, stunned. Luna, who had been waiting patiently for Jagger to finish up, smiled at her brother once he was beside her. The pair wordlessly exchanged high fives as they went to retrieve Valentine from the doting teens.

"Luna!" Valentine exclaimed happily upon catching sight of his seldom-seen sister.

"Hey baby bro," Luna grinned at the younger boy as the three siblings slipped through the school gates without a glance back.

"So what were you guys doing? Did Jagger beat anyone up?" Valentine wondered excitedly.

"Oh, _I _didn't," Jagger assured him, glancing at Luna.

Valentine's jade eyes widened, "Did _Luna_ beat anyone up?"

"It was more of a duffing and a verbal castration, really," Luna answered offhandedly before meeting Jagger's eyes, "You know I got your back, twin."

"What's cas-tur-ay-shun?" Asked Valentine, utterly confused.

The twins pretended not to here and continued to talk amongst themselves. After a moment, Valentine shrugged and linked hands with his brother and sister, content to listen to his siblings' thoughts as they drifted along down the road.


	12. Twelve Part III

**Kay, this is they third and final part. Enjoy (or not) and review (no matter what)! Can't think of anything else to say; it's 12:30 am and my brain is freakin fried. I'm going to sleep...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't own, don't own.**

**~*Twelve Part III*~**

"Lookh!" My tongue ith green!" Valentine proclaimed as he and his siblings reached the grounds of the castle. The three of them had stopped at a candy shop on the way home, which had slowed them down quite a bit. It was worth it.

"Yeah, Mom's gonna be thrilled about that," Luna quipped, decimating another of the chocolate covered gummy worms that she and Jagger were sharing, "A green tongue will probably clash with whatever color tie she's gonna have you wear."

Valentine shrugged and popped another jawbreaker in his mouth, figuring he'd deal with the consequences later.

"You can be such a goody-goody sometimes, Luna," Jagger drawled lazily, thrusting his hand into the bag of worms.

"Do _you_ want to invoke the Wrath of Mom?" Luna demanded pointedly in response.

Jagger got a funny look on his face, "Val—brush your teeth as soon as we get in," he commanded quickly, staring straight ahead. Valentine nodded seriously just as they hurried up the steps to the heavy baroque door.

"Here, quick," Luna held open her Skellanimals backpack to accommodate the candy. Their parents definitely didn't need to know about the little pit stop.

No sooner had Jagger wrapped his hand around the snarling lupine door knocker then Mrs. Maxwell whipped open the door and ushered them inside as though they were being chased by rabid, half-vampiric Transylvania ice weasels...which actually did tend to happen from time to time. While Luna's mother brought the Spanish Inquisition down on her brothers for why they were so late, Gabriel Maxwell snuck behind his favorite daughter and grabbed her by the waist, proceeding to swing her around and throw her in the air. Luna squealed with delighted laughter; _One of the benefits of vampire parents: they can still fling you around like a rag doll when you're twelve._

"Oh, Gabriel, you'll ruin your shirt—it's silk, you know," Lilith feigned dismay when she took notice of the father-daughter moment occurring in her peripheral vision. Jagger and Valentine were just immensely relieved that their mother had been distracted.

"Mom, you look amazing!" Luna squealed, taking note of her mother's appearance for the first time. The older woman was wearing a floor-sweeping black gown that redefined the plunging neckline and might as well have been backless. Femme Fatale, indeed.

"Oh, thank you, dear," Lilith offered a wide, genuine smile before turning to Valentine, "and _you_ need to go to bed."

"But _Mo-om_!" Valentine protested, "I wanna go to the party with you guys."

"You need your sleep," his mother reasoned, "you are still too young."

"But Jagger and Luna get to go!" The six-year-old whined. He glanced at his siblings for help, receiving only _you're-on-your-own-here_ looks, he continued, "And I'm not even ti—" _yawn_ "–red "

Well, that was the end of that. Lilith kissed her youngest son lightly on the forehead, "Make sure to floss between your fangs."

"Yes, Ma'am," the boy muttered glumly as he turned to trudge up the stairs.

"Now, you two," Mrs. Maxwell whipped around to the twins who had been having an intense argument over one-unimportant-thing-or-another, "Jagger, go with your father, Luna, you come with me."

"Yes Ma'am," the two repeated as they followed the adults to the staircase.

"We'll tell you all about it," The twins murmured hurriedly to Valentine as they passed him on the steps before letting their parents hurriedly prepare them for the celebration.

* * *

"Lilith, darling, you look marvelous!" Cassandra Sterling exclaimed the second the Maxwells entered the secluded clearing, that was currently filled with vampires.

"_Et tu,_ Cassie, dearest. Simply ravishing," Lilith lauded, matching the other woman's tone exactly. Both vampiresses took several graceful steps forward to kiss each other on both cheeks in their typical over-the-top display of friendly affection.

"You do look really pretty, Mrs. Sterling," Luna complimented when the two women were finished, "Is Alexander here?"

"Oh, Alexander couldn't attend. Jet lag, you know," Lamented Mrs. Sterling as she twirled her parasol, "He's home with Jameson at the moment."

"Claude is here though," Constantine Sterling added, wondering briefly where his nephew had disappeared to, "undoubtedly getting into some form of trouble."

Cassandra chuckled and shifted her gaze to Jagger, who was surreptitiously rescuing his confiscated skeleton earring from his mother's purse, "And how about you, Jagger," the raven-haired vampiress asked half-playfully, "still a master at causing trouble, I suppose."

"Why thank you, Mrs. Sterling; I do try my hardest," Jagger smiled his most unsettlingly charming smile, causing Cassandra to quickly avert her attention back to Lilith.

While their wives were otherwise engaged, Gabriel and Constantine slipped away from the meet and greet.

Constantine raised an eyebrow and grinned a bit wickedly, "Tarocchi?"

"Always," Gabriel smiled and produced the worn deck of ornate tarot cards the men had been using since their business excursion together in Italy around 1450. The two had become intensely competitive over the intricate trick-taking game, and neither man could stand to lose, "I hope you are prepared to lose every dime you gained during your latest auctions."

"We shall see," Constantine smiled, knowing that they both loved this part of the game even more than when the cards got involved, "How about a drink first?" The darker haired vampire suggested, motioning towards the cut glass bowls filled with every sort of ruby liquid a sanguineaire could want.

"You can order off the set menu if you want," Gabriel replied distractedly, singling out the handful of humans scattered throughout the throng, "I think I'll take a look at the specials."

* * *

"This is going to be boring until they've all had at least two glasses of the _grown-up _blood," Jagger muttered objectively to Luna, taking a drink from his own goblet. The twins were looking out at the older vampires surrounding them, who were still in meet-and-greet mode.

"Mmm," Luna concurred as her cerulean eyes identified a few noticeably less graceful attendees as humans, all of whom would undoubtedly wake up tomorrow in the clearing, completely confused, with peculiar pains in their necks.

Jagger glanced up at the inky darkness slowly blocking out the sun before turning to his sister, "Come with me."

Curious, Luna followed her brother out of the clearing into the thick woods, trusting Jagger to have at least some idea of what they were doing.

"Whoa!" Luna gasped when they accidentally passed a teenage couple feeding off of each other behind some bushes. The teens' eyes glowed briefly red in annoyance, and Luna's face flamed up to match, "Classy, guys, really," Luna got out before she followed her snickering twin further into the woods.

After a time, Luna started to hear music for the first time since they'd left the violin and harpsichord filled clearing. She could tell that this music was different, even from this far off, and she liked it. The pair continued walking, and Luna listened as the music grew louder, and louder, and LOUDER.

"Awesome!" She proclaimed loudly when Jagger waved Luna into a smaller clearing, this one filled with vampire kids of varied ages, thrashing it up to hard-core stomping music that pounded from someone's stereo, causing the whole grove to vibrate.

"This is where we go while our parents are off being boring," Jagger smiled, referring to the moshing vamps filling the clearing. Knowing that he didn't need to hold his sisters hand through all this, Jagger left Luna's side and disappeared into the wild crowd, leaving Luna to hesitate briefly on the perimeter.

Vampires, all of them, Luna knew, even if it wasn't completely obvious at first glance. It wasn't like her to feel self-conscious or...whatever, but Luna's stomach fluttered briefly, and she couldn't seem to make herself join the vampire kids. Noticing the girl standing alone on the edge, a beautiful blonde vampire in a purple dress grinned warmly and waved Luna over, while Claude Sterling winked mischievously at his cousin's friend from across the makeshift dance floor.

Well...why not? Luna took a breath, smiled, and shook her hips as she melded into the chaos as the day merged with darkness up above.


	13. Thirteen

**Ugh, sorry this chapter took a little while to get out, it just didn't seem to want to be worked on. Please let me know if my descriptions get excessive, or if you find my pop-culture references annoying, I really don't want to force purple prose or brand names/wardrobe descriptions on you guys. Leave me a revieeeeeeeeew!**

**~*Thirteen*~ **

"_And monster children, with monster faces / looking for love in __**all**__ the wrong places..."_

Jagger and Luna tossed back their white-capped heads and let loose their most insane, evil cackles,"_BWAHAHAHAHA!_"

The thirteen-year-olds continued to thrash hyper-actively around Jagger's dark room, shouting along with the Aquabats song blaring from the high-tech speaker system.

"Can you here me! Can you get hip to what I'm sayin'? These fashion zombies don't walk this world alo-o-o-ooone!" Luna trilled into a hairbrush while she jumped up and down on the plush lining of Jagger's coffin, her high, pink-streaked pigtails swirling around her like silk ribbons. On the other side of the room, Jagger was alternately air-guitaring and tossing various items into the black duffel bag lying open on the cluttered floor.

"We're going on vaca-a-a-a-ation," Jagger yelled to the tune of the song, "We're gonna pa-aaaaa-arty!" His black fingerless gloves blurred with his ice-white fingers as they flew wildly over imaginary guitar strings.

"New Orleans, baby!" Luna's black-and-pink spiked, rubber bracelets slid up and down when she pumped her fists in the air.

"The _real_ Sin City!" Jagger finished with equal glee

"Dang straight," Luna leafed through some uber-shojo vampire manga that she was way too excited to read, "best spring break _ever_!"

"I don't know about spring break, but I have_ never_ been so glad to have extended family," Jagger slipped a few limited-release copies of _Tales from the Crypt_ and _30 Days of Night_ into his bag as both twins briefly considered the main reason for this excursion.

Vampire families are kinda like those of humans, only more intense. And scary. Immediate family, regardless of circumstances, was intrinsically part of you, but anything beyond that was a bit more complicated. Extended vampire families spent half the time filled with a deep, seemingly undying love and loyalty between them, and the other half at each others' throats. Literally. However, nearly all of the time in each others' company was spent having a _verrry_ good time. Yeah, it was complicated.

Fortunately for the Jagger and Luna, they had some uncles and cousins up in New Orleans, thus their first vacation since the varyingly disturbing, hysterical, awesome, and hellish family reunions over in Miami. What was more, one uncle with connections in the music industry had scored Jagger and Luna tickets to an Inkubus Sukkubus concert not far off Bourbon Street. Naturally, the older Maxwell children couldn't have been happier if a truck transporting authentic Victorian clothing to a museum had broken down outside their house.

"Are you _done_ yet?" Luna demanded, glancing at the cracked, ornately framed mirror hanging ever-so-ironically on the wall.

"Almost..." Jagger hurriedly crammed a stack of paper and some soft-leaded pencils into the bag before zipping it closed and smiling in satisfaction, "Done."

"Yay!" Luna leaped off the coffin and danced her way across the room to her brother, careful not to spill the cup of sugary soda in her hand, "We are good to _go_!"

Once his sister was in range, Jagger grabbed her hand and spun her around ballroom-dancing style. Luna whirled like a top, arching up on the toes of her brothel creepers like a ballerina. Soda sloshed everywhere, but no one particularly cared.

"Oh, that was fun!" Luna giggled, "but let's try a role reversal," and with that she attempted to spin Jagger around in an equally ballerina-like fashion.

Jagger, who had somehow managed to not look too ridiculous, laughed and flicked the blood-red tips of hair out of his eyes, "A toast!" He held up a plastic cup containing soda mixed with A-positive, "To New Orleans!"

"To New Orleans!" Luna agreed as their cups crushed together, the liquid contents spilling over from the force of the bump.

* * *

The Maxwell family jet had been born out of necessity. For obvious reasons, none of them, save Luna, could risk using commercial airlines, and more traditional forms of travel were inadequate and obsolete. At 8:30 pm on a misty spring evening, Luna, Jagger, and Valentine headed excitedly towards the small but spacious plane for the first leg of their trip. Fading red light slanted through the little clearing that housed the plane, giving everything a sanguine glow, like the inside of a ruby.

Luna shivered and rubbed her bare upper arms to reduce exposure to the wet, chilly air. She was very glad for the impenetrable, crepe soles over her brothel creepers as she trekked through the calf-length grass soaked in dew. At least it would be warm in New Orleans, Luna reminded herself frequently. Next to her, Jagger ran his long fingers down the cool, scaly body of a snake he'd found in a clump of nettles—an Aspic Viper, if he was correct, the deadliest snake in Europe. It was currently curled triple around his arm.

"Aren't you lovely," Jagger cooed to the creature, stroking its spade-like head, "a real viper, aren't you? They only have those half-breed pit vipers where we're going," the snake stared calmly into his mismatched eyes, occasionally darting out a tongue to flutter against Jagger's sharp cheekbones.

Jagger continued to speak, "I assume you're female because you're such a rare red color. You're a very pretty snake, but I wish I could see those little hidden knives of yours," he coaxed, and slowly, as though yawning, the snake opened its mouth wide to reveal a wicked set of sharp, tubular fangs. Jagger grinned and revealed his own nearly identical fangs. The snake curled tighter and flicked its tongue out, and Jagger knew that it was sensing the anti-coagulant stored in his hollow canine teeth, exactly like the kind stored in the snake's own fangs, "We're very alike, aren't we, little serpent?"

"Hey, Jagger, if you're done flirting with a snake, maybe you want to get on the plane?" Luna suggested teasingly as she came up beside her brother. The snake on Jagger's arm hissed disdainfully, as if ready to bite the white-haired girl. Jagger smiled innocently at his sister and gently disengaged the creature from his arm.

"Sure, of course," he said to Luna, and then he gave the snake a final stroke and murmured, "off you go," before sending the reptile slithering into the undergrowth.

Satisfied, Luna's pouty lips broke into a grin, "Alright, New Orleans or bust!"

Valentine, still wearing his _Johnny the Homicidal _Maniac pajamas, plopped his bag down, curled up on a seat, and fell back to sleep. The twins chose seats right next to each other and immediately began arguing over who got the window seat.

"I'm older!"

"I know pre-chemistry!"

"I'm higher on the _foodchain_ than you!"

"I'm prettier!"

"...that's debatable."

"I--"

Jagger and Luna were still standing in the aisle when the plane took off, causing Luna to stumble back into another row of seats. Jagger took this opportunity to slip into the window seat.

"I win," the vampire teen grinned at his sister.

"I get it on the way back," Luna conceded grudgingly as she straightened her striped, lolita-candy apron and dropped into the seat beside her brother.

Jagger just smiled rather ambiguously and lowered the black velvet curtain on his window.

Luna narrowed her cobalt eyes and hissed, "You're not going to use the _window_ of the _window seat_?"

"Nope," Jagger kicked his feet up on the seat in front of him and flipped open the blood-and-gut filled pages of one of his graphic novels.

There was an audible _whumph_ as Luna's head thumped against the open tray table in front of her.

**~*~**

**See that? The Luna and Jagger get a spring break too! Hehe, which twin do you think is prettier? Oh, and guess who pops up on the next chapter? Stay tuned!**


	14. Thirteen Part II

**Hullo! I've got a shiny new chapter for everyone! I'm really having a blast writing this fic, and I hope you all are enjoying reading it at least half as much. Oh and thanks so super much to all of you who review nearly every chapter (you know exactly who you are =]) You guys rock!**

**~*Thirteen Part Two*~**

Seven-year-old Billy Madison loved to learn things. In fact, the only thing he'd really wanted to do on vacation in New Orleans was visit the super cool aquarium there. His big sister called him Nerd-Boy, but he didn't get what was so "nerdy" about wanting to discover new stuff and how they work. Raven had snuck out and away from the cornily named aquarium, Sea the World, in record time, so Billy could enjoy the exhibits without getting mocked the whole time. He was particularly fascinated by the shark tank, and he found himself and wishing that he could be big, tough, and strong like a Great White...or Raven. No one messes with a Great White shark, or Raven, for that matter.

Billy was distracted by his thoughts for a moment, and his gaze drifted to the porthole-shaped window, where something caught his eye. There was a little playground down there, which Billy had seen before when they'd passed it on Bourbon Street. It seemed that as dusk had fallen, the park had gained an unusual occupant. A white-haired boy around Billy's age had set up camp by the monkey bars, from which he hung upside-down, tapping at the controls of his Gameboy. Below the boy, a a stack of old-fashioned horror comics were piled to one side, and a strangely shaped skateboard leaned against the base of the bars.

Suddenly, sensing that he was being watched, the boy on the monkey bars looked up, glanced around, and looked straight at Billy with his laser-like, emerald eyes. Billy's breath hitched as monkey-bar-boy continued to look _right at him_. A friendly smile crawled across the green-eyed child's ghostly face, and he wiggled his black nail-polished fingers in a wave before returning to his game.

Immediately, Billy turned from the window and dashed out of the museum, not caring whether or not his parents would know where he was. The stars weren't out yet, but the moon was, seeming unsure what to do with itself as pink clouds swirled around it like cotton candy in the making.

"Hey," Billy approached the monkey bars, "is that ZombieSumoSquash 4?"

Slowly, the boy looked up from the game and nodded, "Yup. Just got it."

"I got Zombie_Ninja_Squash Demo 5," Billy felt his characteristic shyness return, and he considered just making a quick retreat.

Before Billy could flee, Valentine flashed an excited grin, "Whoa, really? That's not even out yet! How'd you get it?"

Billy shrugged modestly, "I've got my sources," He perched himself on the top of the monkey bars, "I'm Billy."

"Valentine," Valentine pointed to himself with one hand and extended his other for a greeting, "Nice to meetcha."

* * *

It was 10:00 pm, and Luna had just woken up three hours ago. She had fallen into her family's nocturnal patterns over vacation, but she still woke up before everybody else. By her calculations, everyone was probably awake by now, which meant she needed to get home.

Luna licked a red icing rosette off the black licorice cupcake she had nabbed. During her wanderings of the crumbling houses on the older, abandoned streets, Luna had heard throbbing music oozing from one of the ancient manors—she couldn't think of a cooler place for a get together. She'd located the source of the music easily and entered the place like a celebrity, having absolutely no reservations towards crashing a gothic house party. It was wild inside, with dusty velvet curtains, wall sconces, and ornate moldings adorning the walls, and it was filled with as many dancing goths as it was with flickering candles. Techno-dance remixes of apocalyptic rock blared from some invisible sound system, making the ancient walls tremble. Luna was in her element.

Wasting no time, Luna chugged an energy drink, partied, and spaz-danced with a boy who bore a silly tattoo of pink, fanged bunny. Though the party would likely last through the night, Luna left in a few hours with a thin sheen of sweat on her pretty face, as well as the bunny-boy's number scribbled in her Hello Batty address book.

Luna practically skipped down the moon-washed streets, buzzed on adrenaline, caffeine, and music. Rich scents floated from the flowers surrounding her. Wildflowers had taken over this decrepit block, and they were blooming full and bold in the spring night. Luna stopped to pick a sticky-sweet moonflower from a crack in the pavement, rubbing its velvet petals against her cheek before tucking it into her mass of snowy hair.

* * *

New Orleans truly was a vampire's paradise. The whole city was crawling with vacationing vamps, and it boasted America's highest population of civilian undead. Alongside innocent tourist-trap locales there were vampire hotels, vampire restaurants, vampire night clubs, and even vampire malls and movie theaters. It was kind of funny, actually, how the multitudes of mortal spring-breakers hadn't the slightest clue that there necks were in constant danger.

For the most part, though, there was relative peace between the living and the living dead; the tourists got Bourbon street, and the vampires got...everything else. Places that most vacationers barely knew existed came alive at night, and humans that did stumble upon this nighttime world had a funny habit of not stumbling out. Unbeknownst to the sweaty, sunburnt masses, immortal families picnicked in the bayou, teen Nosferatus raved in abandoned factories, and mini-Dracs played with voodoo dolls and had seances in condemned buildings. A constant Mardi Gras of partying vamps in wild masks rolled through dead-end streets every night like a funeral procession on LSD.

So, dressed in what Lilith Maxwell deemed "presentably semi-formal" attire, the Maxwells found themselves in Scrumptious Scarlet, a hip little cafe/bakery/restaurant for vampires of all variety. A vampire waitress with flowing blond hair and a black cocktail dress welcomed them and took their orders.

"A Ruby Sipper, on the rocks," Jagger requested, smiling flirtatiously at the waitress.

"Make it a virgin," Lilith interjected, and Jagger nearly blushed, "We'll take a bottle of Cabernet, as well."

"And a filet mignon, triple rare," Gabriel added with a polite grin, "Of course, I would prefer it still mooing..."

"Uh...the kid's burger comes with fries, right? Can I get gravy on those?" Valentine looked up for clarification. The waitress nodded. "Cool. And a Shirley Temple—B negative, and extra insulin."

Luna grazed the menu with her finger tip, "Ummm, a red velvet cake, with, ah, _non-organic_ red."

She wondered vaguely if her sweet tooth would become a sweet fang when she got turned.

The waitress assured them that their orders would be right out before flitting off to the the next table with a flip of her diaphanous hair. For the most part they had ordered light, as the more dentally-enhanced Maxwells planned on catching a bite or two around town afterward.

The cafe had no artificial lighting, only endless rows of mismatched candles flickering off the crimson walls. Little trays of ornate, black and red pastries adorned the tables at random intervals, adding to the aura of otherworldly opulence.

Before long, a huddle of vampire boys gathered around Luna, excited by the presence of such an exotic and beautiful mortal. They talked over each other in soft voices, playing with her hair and "accidentally" brushing their pale fingers over her swan-like neck. Luna, who couldn't say that she was adverse to this attention, shook down her waist-length white hair from its up-do to cover her neck.

"It's distracting," She explained with a coquettish smile, "Now, you were saying?"

Meanwhile, two fanged femmes approached Jagger.

"You must come sit with me!" One with black, sword-straight hair insisted.

"No, me!" The other rebutted, flicking copper bangs away from her eyes.

Both girls looked at each other at each other and giggled before saying at the same time, "Both of us!"

"Okay, okay," Jagger chuckled and allowed himself to be whisked off to a table filled with undead adolescents. He took a seat between the two girls, making himself quite comfortable as they got acquainted.

Over by Luna, the boys continued vying for her attention, some of them pushing to take this conversation somewhere more...private.

"Why don't we got to the cemetery?"

"Yes, the cemetery."

"It's very beautiful there."

"You would love it, Luna."

"It's not far, we could walk."

"The cemetery..."

"Actually," Luna cut them off, "There's this totally killer house party..."

As she left with her new-found fan-club, Luna tried to catch her twin's eye without success. Jagger tilted the dark haired girl's (her name was Onyx, apparently) chin up to observe the sparkling black gem plastered to her ivory fang.

"Deadly cool," Jagger complimented.

Onyx smiled coolly, "I could do one for you, if you would like," her finger brushed Jagger's lips, and the ginger (Ruby, naturally) tittered.

"Unless you think you'd look girly..." Ruby teased, toying with the red tips of Jagger's hair.

The shock-goth smiled, "I'm on vacation. There's no better time to try new things, is there?"


	15. Thirteen Part III

**Right, here's the deal: my computer isn't working anymore, so I had to cut a chapter in two, meaning that there'll be one more after this *sigh* Because of that, this chapter's a little short, and the next one probably will be too. Oh well, technology hates me, and I should just accept that =] All the same, I hope you enjoy! **

**~*Thirteen Part Three*~**

To be honest, Jagger hadn't a clue where Luna was at the moment, but he wasn't particularly worried for the girl. His parents had advised Jagger to keep an eye on his sister, which, as far as he was concerned, was a laughable notion. Luna didn't need anyone to keep an eye on her. Just because she was human, vampires seemed to get the idea that Luna was some fragile little thing, but Jagger knew otherwise. He knew that Luna was quick, cunning, infallibly charming, and more than a little devious; they _were_ twins after all, and they had more in common than skinny frames and cotton-white hair.

So Jagger wasn't feeling particularly anxious for his twin as he glided down Bourbon Street. The human side of town was bigger, tackier, and much too bright for Jagger's taste, but it was swarming with all varieties of humans, and he was just looking for the perfect vein to tap. In his hunting state, Jagger was attuned to every sound around him. He could hear the lighthearted conversations resounding from every direction, the _ching_ of cash-registers in stores, and the blubbering of some kid who'd dropped his ice cream cone. He could hear the _whoosh_ of breathing, the _bumbum_ of heartbeats, and the whisper of blood moving through veins. He could hear...Bela Lugosi's Dead by Bauhaus? Awesome! He loved that song!

Completely distracted, Jagger wandered off to find the source of the music. Hmm, it wasn't just the original song he was hearing...a female voice was singing on top of the recorded sounds and vocals, and she was quite good. His search eventually brought Jagger to a narrow alleyway between two buildings, through which a pretty human girl with black hair was fearlessly traipsing. The ear-buds to her MP3 player were around her slender white neck, blasting Bauhaus. Occasionally, she would give a little spin or dance in time with the sounds, looking surprisingly graceful in her clunky combat boots. Her dancing made Jagger smile.

The girl paused to look at a flower growing from a crack in one of the walls. She reached for it, tugged, but it was surprisingly sturdy and wouldn't budge an inch.

"It's a night creeper," Jagger said casually as he stepped into the alley. Liquid brown eyes flashed up as Jagger made his way over to her, "They're very stubborn little things, but also very beautiful."

"So I've figured," The girl's black painted lips cracked into a grin as she took in Jagger's red-tipped hair, mismatched eyes, and shock-goth apparel, "is it very exotic? I've never seen a flower like it before."

Jagger laughed, "Hardly. It's a weed, which is probably why you've never seen it. Most people will kill it on the spot."

The girl's face twisted into a scowl as she took the flower, "Well those people are stupid. I think it's beautiful." She held the flower defensively, as though some demon gardener would appear from thin air and spray Weed-Off all over it. However, a peculiar thing happened as she gripped the exquisite black-petaled flower: one of the protruding thorns jabbed her palm, causing a scarlet teardrop of blood to well up.

"Ouch," she winced and prepared to wipe the injured hand on her safety-pin studded jeans.

"Wait," Jagger caught her wrist, "allow me."

The boy flipped her palm up and kissed it, deftly removing the the dribble of blood, "I'm Jagger, by the way. I'm here on vacation from Transylvania."

"Really?" Raven's eyes lit up at the mention of her dream vacation destination, "I'm Raven, from Dullsville, Suburbia. I'm here with my family."

Before Jagger could say anything else, Luna's petite figure appeared at the mouth of the alleyway, "Hey Jagger, there's this guy playing guitar on the street, he's really--Oh, hi!"

"Is that your sister?" Raven admired Luna's black satin dress and pink lace slip.

"Yup," Luna popped the P, "his twin, actually. We practically share the same messed up DNA. Love your shirt, by the way. Mega-cute."

Raven grinned, tugging at the hemline of her favorite tank top, emblazoned with a pair of fangs and the words _Love at First Bite_, "Thanks. Where'd you get those bows in your hair? I'm jealous."

Jagger watched with amusement as the girls conversed like long-lost sisters.

"Oh, there's this crazy awesome boutique just on the edge of town. You _have_ to check it out."

Raven grimaced, "I'm stuck on the main streets for now, though. Bourbon Street is so boring. I'd rather be scoping out the cemeteries."

Luna laughed, "You and Jagger both, I'm sure. He does these cool grave stone etchings."

"That's really awesome," Raven smiled at Jagger, "You should show me sometime."

"It'd be my pleasure," Jagger drawled.

"Um, anyway, we kinda gotta go," Luna looked reluctant to leave, "We have to find Valentine--he kinda went AWOL."

Raven looked disappointed, "Going already? I wish I could explore the cemeteries with you," she looked at Jagger, "I think I'd like that a lot."

"We'll meet each other again, I'm sure of it. We can explore all the cemeteries we want then," Jagger promised, and he meant it.

"Great!" Luna smiled hugely, "Maybe we can catch a midnight showing of Kissing Coffins."

"Yes. Definitely," Raven hugged Luna as if it were the most natural thing in the world and kissed Jagger on the cheek, leaving a black impression of her lips on his face.

**~*~**

**Hehe, I liiiiikes me the JaggerxRaven, but I had to restrain myself quite a bit here…it was hard. So, review!**


	16. Thirteen Part IV

**Ugh, I can't believe it's been almost a month! Here's the last part of thirteen. It's pretty weird. I'm not sure what I was thinking. You have been warned.**

**~*Thirteen Part 4*~ **

"Whoa! Easy, easy!" Valentine prevented Billy from doing a face-plant into the pavement. The vampire child laughed softly at his new friend's expression.

"I suck so bad," Billy mumbled desolately.

_But I suck worse_, Valentine thought amusedly.

"Actually, you're really good_--" For a human _"--For a beginner."

"Yeah right. You're like Tony Hawk," Billy was grumbling, but he was also grinning.

Valentine shrugged while executing a perfect pop-olly kick-flip, "Just takes some practice. Come on, if you can do a 180 before fifteen minutes is up, I'll buy slushies."

"Can we take a break?" Billy sank down on the curb and adjusted the thick-rimmed, oval glasses he'd had to wear for the past year, "I'm tired."

"Suit yourself," Valentine plopped down next to him. The pair were hanging out in the parking lot outside a Kwicki-Mart downtown. They didn't have too long, since Billy's parents would soon realize that he'd snuck out of the casino's daycare (seriously, they have one) if he didn't get back in time. He'd never snuck out anywhere before; it was pretty cool, actually.

"So who are you here with?" Billy was the first to break the silence.

Valentine sucked pensively at the straw of his lime green slushie-concoction, "My family. I've got an older brother and sister. My 'rents are here too."

"I've got a big sister," Billy said rather softly, "She's like you, actually."

Valentine's eyebrows shot up in surprise before Billy added with a laugh, "Bet you guys even buy the same nail polish. We're really different."

"My brother and sister are like me in that way, but we might as well live on different planets," Valentine confided, "I'm just their baby brother. They'll never think I'm anything more than that."

"My sister thinks she's so tough," Billy didn't say this with any animosity, "she doesn't want me tagging along with. She doesn't think I'm worth her time."

"Being little bites," Valentine muttered, boring holes into the parking lot with his emerald eyes.

"Maybe we can be brothers," Billy suggested suddenly, "Then we wouldn't be alone."

Valentine looked up, surprised at the offer. He suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment: what would Jagger say? Jagger hated humans, except to mess with or have for dinner. He'd say that Valentine was being stupid and weak by even associating with this mortal. He'd roll his eyes in contempt and give Valentine a "disappointed" look. But…Valentine liked Billy. He thought Billy was cool. Surely _all_ humans couldn't be worthless? After all, Luna was human, and she was awesome. Even Jagger knew that, whether or not he'd admit it. Jagger would probably even like Billy if he got to know him; maybe Jagger only disliked humans in general, but he liked certain ones. That's what Valentine figured, cause hating all every single mortal would require lots of hate, and Valentine didn't think he had enough hate in himself for that. Of course, if Billy was only a _vampire_, this wouldn't be an issue at all, but it would probably kill the night if Valentine tried to explain this to him. He'd just have to go for the next best thing:

"I'd like to be brothers," He said with a smile, "I'd like that a lot."

"One, two, three, four, wrestle that alligator! Five, six, seven, eight, if it eats you that'd be great!" Luna bounced up and down on her springy perch like a goth cheerleader. Jagger smirked at his sister's impromptu chant but otherwise remained focused on the dangerous little game he was playing.

Presently, the vampire teen was knee deep in swamp muck, wearing a blindfold, surrounded by enormous, deadly reptiles. Not the most exciting thing he'd ever done, but at least it was entertaining. Luna was also getting a kick out of it, probably hoping that one of the beasts would bite a chunk out of one of Jagger's limbs. The girl in question sat lotus style on the enormous lily pad she had clambered onto to watch her brother. A suspicious looking log floated toward her, causing Luna to wrinkle her nose.

"Back off," she flicked some powder she'd been given by a tarot card reader in Jackson Square. Luna wasn't totally convinced that it was some magical charm of protection, but it never hurt to try. Plus, the shimmery purple dust made awesome eye shadow.

The twins were spending their last night in New Orleans deep in the bayou, completely alone in the cypress trees. Up until now, Jagger had been crashing in the Lafayette Cemetery or the City of the Dead, while Luna went between her uncle's flat, newfound friend's houses, and youth hostels. However, they figured that this was the rawest Louisiana experience that anyone could have, so they were going for it.

Once Jagger had successfully drained the life from the crocs, he helped Luna leap from her lily pad onto solid ground.

"How'd they taste?" She teased, kicking a crocodile corpse that was in her way.

Jagger made a face, "Scaly, slimy, and…_cold_," he shivered a bit despite the balmy air, "I think I'll stick to mammals from here on out, thank you very much."

"If it's any consolation, you looked totally badass," Luna helped her brother shrug into his spike-studded leather jacket.

"Good to know," he grunted in response, settling down on the thick black blanket they'd brought. Luna reclined next to him, squinting through the thick covering of trees to the stars above.

"So…?" She prompted, nudging her brother with her foot.

Jagger slanted a glance at the girl, "Only if you brought the goodies."

Luna giggled as she pulled a daintily wrapped, purple and black chocolate box from her Hello Batty duffle bag, "Right here. Absinthe candies--how very French!"

Jagger nodded and dug through his own bag, pulling out a few key objects. A whimsically bulky, old-school phonograph and shiny black record, both of which he'd found while lurking around abandoned shops in the hurricane-blighted section of town. With some effort, he got the phonograph working. It was a strange sort of thing with new parts attached and other components missing, but it worked. Music poured out of the contraption's golden mouth--music far too modern for such a machine and record.

"Someone must have…burned it somehow," he muttered, amazed at the ingenuity.

"And rigged it up to play right," Luna added as the song suddenly switched to another, "and to do _that_."

Wild as their discovery was, Jagger's attention shifted to the mauve box in his sister's hands.

"Shall we?" Jagger gestured to the box.

"We shall," Luna nodded solemnly before tearing into the strange, toxic treats with her brother.

"It's sweet!"

"Mmm, licorice-y."

"This can't be straight absinthe."

"Well, there's only little, and there's chocolate all around it…"

"Whoa!"

"What?"

"Everything just started spinning."

"That's probably not a good sign…"

Before long, green goo was dripping from the corner's of their lips, and reality was getting a little skewed. They may have underestimated the potency of absinthe a bit.

"We should probably stop before we start hearing voices or something," Luna popped a final candy in her mouth.

"Doesn't matter. We're out," Jagger motioned to the empty box.

"Mm," Luna lay back on the blanket, concentrating on the strange swirling feeling she was having.

"Hey. We should dance," Jagger's mismatched eyes gleamed as he tugged his sister from the blanket.

"You're a fun drunk," was all Luna said as they started waltzing.

"Am not," Jagger muttered, "drunk, that is. You can't get drunk off of candy, silly."

"You can if it's absinthe candy, stupid," Luna countered.

"Shut it and dance."

Inexplicably, the phonograph kept playing music. All sorts of music, too: glam rock, sonatas, grunge, stalker-pop, random French ditties, eerie '20s hits, elevator music, and weird synthesized songs that sounded like you were listening to them from underwater.

"This is ridiculous," Luna said after a while. The more…unique effects of absinthe had worn off by this point, but the twins were still tipsy.

"And weird," Jagger agreed.

Regardless, the pair continued to dance until they collapsed onto the blanket.

"Absinthe. Jeez. I had no idea. I can't believe someone sell these things to a teenagers," Luna mused.

"I think we should bring out dear friend Alexander a box," Jagger folded his hands over his stomach, "I would pay so much to see that."

Luna giggled, "That's my future mate you're talking about."

"You have my undying sympathy."

She shoved Jagger. A little too hard, "You're jealous. No, not jealous, bitter."

Jagger raised an eyebrow.

"But you don't have to worry," Luna was continuing, "Cause you're gonna find someone too. You're gonna find a totally amazing, gorgeous, super-cool, rocker girl to be with forever and ever."

A rare genuine smile spread over Jagger's cadaverous face as he ruffled his sister's hair, "Loon, you know what? Even when you're with Alexander and I'm with someone amazing, and we're both happy, I'll still think you're the coolest girl in the underworld. You know that, right?"

Luna was shocked at this supremely un-Jaggerish behavior. I

_Must be the absinthe,_ she thought, but smiled all the same.

They didn't have time to say anything else, though, because this really weirdly beautiful song started playing that made them go quiet. It made them feel like they were flying. When it was over, they just curled in towards each other and talked quietly, the way they used to when they were really little.

"Love ya, twin."

"Sweet dreams, Loon."

**INFORMATIONAL-ISH A/N**

**In case you don't know about absinthe: it is a French liquor with an extremely high alcohol content and a sugary, licorice-like taste. It's illegal because it has some disturbing hallucinogenic effects, but a lot of places in France still have it. And yes, absinthe candies do exist, but it's usually fake absinthe with no alcohol. **


	17. Fourteen

**Fourteen for you guys, enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Suing is mean. Please don't do it.**

**~*Fourteen*~**

"Hello, this is Jagger Maxwell, and I will be taking over your regularly scheduled program for this week," The fourteen-year-old vampire reclined on the swivel chair, dangling the speaker from his pale fingers, "do not panic. If everything goes smoothly, you can all walk away from this unscathed and possibly even less boring people from the experience. In case of emergency, please proceed to the exits in a chaotic and mob-like fashion. That concludes this public broadcast announcement."

Jagger pushed the little red button on the microphone to kill the sound. He snickered to himself as Luna flashed him a thumbs up. It was autumn in Luna's first year of high school, and she had collaborated with Jagger to make it slightly more interesting. It was all rather rushed, having been scraped together the night before, but the twins thought it was inspired all the same.

In less than a day, the elder Maxwells had devised and carried out the very first _coup de'ecole _in academic history, and everything was going according to plan. It was the night of the very first varsity soccer game, something that Luna typically wouldn't be caught dead or otherwise at had it not been for her half-baked plot.

It was a simple plan, really. Only three steps in total:

Step One: Infiltrate

Step Two: Seize and maintain control of the event

Stem Three: Wreak havoc

"So?" Jagger raised an eyebrow.

"All systems are go," Luna said happily.

Anyone who could cause to much of an issue (coaches, teachers, referees, the people who should have been running the commentators booth…) were pleasantly unconscious thanks to Jagger. the troops, so to speak, were at their stations and ready to go.

"Excellent." Jagger rubbed his hands together, "I'm out then. Good luck, sis."

"Won't be needing it, _bro_," Luna took Jagger's station by the mic as the boy slipped quickly out of the room.

"Guess who? It's me. The freaky freshmen girl who wears corsets and pink fishnets," Luna chirped happily into the microphone, allowing her voice to wash through the speakers into the arena, "Don't know who I am? Your loss. We ask that you bear with us as we make the adjustments needed for your viewing pleasure. While you wait, please enjoy the musical stylings of Lordi."

The girl popped a CD into the sound system before adding, "And before you ask, no. This ain't gospel."

Luna knew she was lucky that she had such a great stage for her roughly-drafted performance. Although her town was small, the high school was huge, as students from several townships attended it. Moreover, the stadium was awesome. Thanks to some very athletic, very wealthy families, there was all-around seating, floodlights, flawless green Astroturf, a state of the art speaker system, and even a spectator's box. Through the plexi-glass walls, Luna could see the attendees (pretty much the entire high school plus their parents) getting increasingly confused and agitated. Very funny.

Suddenly, the spotlights dimmed, then turned off completely. That was the signal. Off went the music, and for a while all was dark and silent.

"Let's all give a special thanks to Tripp," Luna's voice broke the quiet, "He was cool enough to hack into the lighting system and create an awesome laser show just for you." She winked a cerulean eye at the blond, bespectacled boy seated high in the rafters. At that moment, red lights beamed through the coliseum-reminiscent structure, setting the arena on a special sort of fire. The blasts of scarlet light were accompanied by pounding, shrilling music played at eardrum-exploding decibels.

"Here comes the home team!" The snowy-headed girl trilled over the mic as the school's disoriented varsity soccer team wandered onto the field. Shocked, annoyed faces floated atop of well-build, uniformed bodies as they took in the unexpectedly anarchic scene. Chorus' of "what the hell" and "did someone spike my Gatorade" could be heard from the huddle of gaping soccer snobs.

The audience clapped hesitantly, but Luna immediately cut them off, "Enough of them. I regret to inform you that the opposing team is unable to play at the moment. They all kind of…I'm not sure how to say this…passed out."

Confused murmurs all around.

"But don't worry. We have a different team set and ready to play. Everybody put your hands together for…The Vampires!"

Luna grinned; calling vampires exactly what they were in this context was a stroke of genius, as nobody would even suspect how very true it all was. Tripp's fog machine started up, creating a charcoal haze from which a motley collection of figures appeared, stepping forth one at a time as their names were called.

"The fabulous and-if I do say so myself-sexy Alexander Sterling is our goalie. Let's here it, people!" Alexander's pale face flushed at Luna's words, which Luna found all the more adorable.

"Innnntroooduuuucing our midfielders:" She went on in her most exaggerated announcer voice, "weighing in at 250 pounds of pure muscle, this is Rocco; don't make him angry. You won't like him when he's angry."

Rocco thundered onto the field in football gear with spikes protruding from the shoulders pads. Some audience members wondered aloud why he was dressed in a football uniform for a soccer game. The joke was completely lost on them.

"Oh, and did I mention our team is co-ed?" Luna continued blithely, "here's Kat. Watch out boys, this kitty's got claws."

Kat loudly popped a huge bubble of gum as she materialized from the fog. The tattered edges of her black taffeta dress swirled eerily around her sleek thighs. Luna made a mental note to find out where she shops.

The last of the half-vampires was already strutting onto the field, blowing air-kisses and winking from beneath his silver peroxide-streaked hair.

"And Claude Sterling on center mid! Wonder if he's as hot on the field as he is in the head," Luna giggled.

"What's that Luna? You think I'm hot?" Claude yelled, "don't worry; you're not the only one…"

Some preppy girls in the stands seemed to seriously consider turning to the dark side when they met Claude's eyes. Luna was starting to worry about what would happen if Claude's ego _actually_ exploded. She had to focus on her job though, so Luna went on calling the names of every bloodthirsty teen-vamp she and her brother managed to round up.

"Last, but _definitely_ not least: I give you…team captain…Jagger Maxwell!" The rare, childishly happy expression on her twin's face made Luna smile as she practically roared out, "Let's _Play Ball!_"


	18. Fouteen Part II

**Sorry for lack of updates, but I'm back again! I will finish this story within the year. Thank you so much to all my reviewers ; it means a lot to me that you are reading my story and enjoying it. **

**~*Fourteen Part Two*~**

"Ooooh, _that_ looked like it _hurt_," The crowd gave a collective wince, both at the bone-crunching, certainly illegal tackle made by Rocco and the manically bubbly tone of Luna's voice.

Jagger was euphoric. Adrenaline coursed through his bloodless veins, bringing the world into sharp focus. Colors were brighter, sounds were amplified, he could _taste_ metallic excitement. This was better than hunting!

On the field, one of the still-standing human players tried desperately to chase down the lightening-quick Alexander, who blithely back-kicked the ball to Kat.

"Easy princess," A ticked-off player sporting a bloody nose said through his teeth, "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

Jagger smiled; these humans didn't seem to learn.

Kat smirked and flicked the ball right between the boy's legs, causing him to collapse in a whimpering pile on the astro-turf, "Oops. Should have worn a cup," she purred evenly. As she passed by the gasping teen, she spat her gum onto his chest.

Luna giggled over the loudspeaker, "Go, girl!" Then, "Ouch, that'll leave a mark," as Jagger and Claude slammed the only standing human on either side. Him and the other Sterling worked well together. Who would have thought?

With a perfect pass by Kat, some beautiful footwork, and a lot of raw power, Jagger mercilessly slammed the ball into the goalie's stomach, making the poor teen fly backward into the netting with an _Ah-__**Oof!**_

"_GOAL!_" Luna's voice blasted out like a thunder burst.

Oh God, that felt good. Jagger was finally able to put a finger on the foreign emotion filling his black little heart: He felt alive.

Jagger knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he couldn't seem to stop. It was not a common problem for him. His teammates were celebrating too, feeling for once like normal humans, thrilled to accomplish something as small as winning a soccer game. Tripp was playing a remixed version of "We Are the Champions." Claude and Rocco were doing some silly victory dance. Alexander was spinning Kat around in a hyper waltz. They had all forgotten, for just this little while, that they were vampires.

"Looks like it's time for some halftime entertainment!" Luna's declaration cut through the stadium, drawing everyone's attention.

The crowd watched warily as the white-haired girl flounced from the spectator's box.

"In an unfortunate turn of events, the JV cheerleading squad was unable to perform at this event," Jagger had deftly slipped into his sister's place in the box, "They seem to have…misplaced their uniforms. Such a shame. Good thing we have an alternate squad ready to go. Man, are you guys lucky or what?"

"That's right!" Luna shouted as she emerged from yet more fog with a small army of teen girls who were a bit…long in the tooth, so to speak. The whole group was clad in perfectly standard cheerleading uniforms, all of which were spray-painted black.

_Wonder wear they got those on such short notice,_ Jagger thought rhetorically.

"We're the Spirit Squad," Luna's puffy lips quirked, "And we wanna make you _scream!_"

Hit it.

Jumps, Splits, Kicks, Flips. Flurries of wild, impossible movement too fast for human eyes to follow, with Luna in the center of it all like the eye of a storm. She was moving too, not as fast as the vampire girls, but in just as an entrancing manner. She danced along with the gymnastics in the ethereal, hypnotic style she'd learned from watching her mother. The juxtaposition of her and the wild, unnatural accolades of Luna's non-human teammates was disturbing in its ethereality.

Eventually, the otherworldly performance died down into a more traditional series of stunts, now accompanied by cheers;

"Whether we're alive or not, us vampires are so damn hot!"

Luna giggled when she saw that the guys in the bleachers seemed to agree. Their semi-captive audience was hooked. Kay then.

"Ready ghouls?" Luna sunk down to a Russian split; the signal. She let her head slump as the vampires behind her assembled The Pyramid.

Luna's eyes remained fixed on the ground as cold hands gripped her thighs, maintaining the split as she was risen up, higher and higher like a gothic rag doll, to the top. Boys wolf-whistled. Luna didn't bat an eyelash; thank God for Spanx. The last pair of hands shifted to Luna's calves, stretching her split painfully before propelling her to a standing position.

Luna reanimated slowly, lifting her head, staring out unblinkingly. The crowd was enthralled. Then the girl beamed, spread her arms, appealing to the crowd., "So. How do you like us?"

There was a pause, then, roaring. Luna grinned. Even better than she'd hoped.

She laughed exultantly, "That's good to hear. Ready for the big finale?"

Borderline riot noises. Mosh-pit noises. Hell yes.

Then, in her most cliché cheerleader voice, "Oooooooooooo-KAY! Let's give it to'em."

The pyramid went down like dominoes. The two vampires below Luna threw the human girl into the air and pin wheeled to the ground. Luna was still shooting up when the next row spread-eagled away, just dropping when the third flipped forward, and finishing up an aerial backflip when the fourth row caught her, once more in that perfect split.

The cheerleaders were pounding the ground in time with their new chant, **"**_**You know that you can take it from us-"**_

Luna shot her hands heavenward **"**_**-There's no denying, high school **__**SUCKS**__**!"**_

The crowd went savage as a barrage of plastic fangs rained from the suspended nets above.

OoO

Mismatched eyes glittered in the semi-darkness of the alcove. Jagger had found the cache while wandering the stadium after the game. It was a private sort of place, hidden away from the blinding lights. Maybe it was this sense of privacy that led Kat and Alexander to it. Jagger had been surprised to see those two-the sultry little Halfling and the boy who was a vampire in name only-but Jagger had stayed still and silent as the pair locked lips. It was a chaste kiss, much to Kat's apparent disappointment, but it sent a flare of anger through the watching teen.

Revolted by this candid act, Jagger wanted nothing more than to leave, but thoughts of Luna kept him rooted to the spot. It was true that, though his sister and Alexander were promised, there was no rule preventing them from dating in the mean time. It wasn't even, in these modern times, an uncommon practice. So that wasn't what bothered Jagger. No, what pissed him off was that Luna adored Alexander, was as close to loving him as a fourteen-year-old could be, and this cowardly boy didn't seem to care, or even notice.

_What,_ Jagger thought venomously, _Luna isn't good enough for you so you have to seek out some ill-bred half-demon?_

Kat and Alexander's stolen moment was over now, and Kat was strutting off toward the girl's locker room. Alexander remained leaning against the grimy wall. As he turned to leave, Jagger caught his eye. He seemed surprised to see the white-haired teen blocking his way.

_Careful Alexander, _Jagger sent the words on a wave of Power to the black-haired boys mind, where he hoped they might stick. A new trick, but so very useful when he wanted to assert dominance. Alexander's deep-brown eyes widened; he hadn't imagined that Jagger possessed such power. Jagger grinned, a cruel, humorless grin, before speaking aloud, "Careful. Or someone might get hurt."

He left Alexander staring after him.

On his way, Jagger glimpsed Kat peering from behind a half-closed door. Jagger would ignore her-for now. No need to provoke Claude's merry band of misfits. He rather liked the_ dhampirs_, and thought they might be helpful to have on his side. At fourteen, Jagger knew a thing or two about vampire politics.

Jagger was just leaving the hallway when Luna dashed up to him.

"Heads up," She was grinning, "The Filth's here."

Jagger cocked his head. Sirens. Soon, the red and blue lights would appear.

"Someone called the _police_? Seriously?" Jagger found himself smiling, "Awesome."

"I know, right?" Luna laughed, "but I suggest we evacuate the premises before things get-ah-messy."

"Right," Jagger took stock of the vampires scattered throughout the stadium, "Let's blow this place."

**OoO**

**Fourteen Part 3 will be up in about a week. Please leave a review!**


	19. Fouteen Part III

**This is the last section of Fourteen for ya! Review if you can, cause reviews are my biggest source of motivation!**

**~*Fourteen Part Three*~**

The Vampires were invading suburbia. Most of the group drifted away, but Jagger, Luna, Alexander, and the four dhampirs remained. It was late evening, and the main streets were active. It was a land of cobblestone streets and chain restaurants and mortal families eating ice cream on benches. Jagger was enthralled by this overworld. Everything was so _bright_, so _colorful_, so _new._ it was a stark contrast to his half-decayed world of odd stores and clubs in crumbling castles. Luna and the Halflings were unfazed, from their constant exposure to the land of light. Even Alexander, used to roaming Earth's human cities with his parents, was un-enchanted. Jagger had only ever been part of the vampire realm. He wanted to drink this whole new world in.

The group was boisterous as they passed through the diner's metallic doors. They figured this would be a good way to complete the high school-athlete experience (although, Claude pointed out, it would be most authentic if they went to Hooters.)

The teens' clamor drew eyes as they streamed into the restaurant, and their appearance made the stares stick. For an instant, the hostess thought she was about to witness a robbery. The gothic group were oblivious to the gawking as they chose a big, wraparound booth up front. By the time they'd settled in, Kat was nibbling Alexander's ear, Jagger was kicking salt and pepper shakers off the table to make room for his feet, and Tripp was under the table, groping for his glasses. The diner was starting to clear out pretty fast.

Some time passed before a reluctant waitress approached. She was middle-aged with dyed read hair, outfitted in '50's carhop apparel-_sans_ roller-skates. The woman cleared her throat, signaling the teens' attention and making Rocco release Tripp from an especially enthusiastic noogie.

"Uh…" the waitress stared at the seven before her as though regarding an alien species.

"Um, yeah," Luna was the first to speak, "Large strawberry milkshake."

"Whipped cream?" The waitress seemed grateful for the normalcy.

"Hell yes!" Luna beamed, and the waitress managed a shaky grin, "Oh, and could you put one of those little cherries on top? I love those suckers."

"I'll see what I can do," The waitress winked before turning, "And you?"

"Nothing for me, thank you," Alexander said politely.

The waitress turned to Jagger.

Said teen answered languidly, lounging with his combat-booted feet propped up on the table, "I'd like a burger. Half-pound. Raw."

The waitresses eyes widened at the request.

"He means rare," Alexander interjecting, slanting a warning look at the white-haired boy.

"_No_," Jagger's eyes flashed as he glared at Alexander, "I _mean_ raw," He looked pointedly at the waitress, "is that a _problem_?"

Before the woman could speak, Claude piped up, "Yeah, _yeah._ I wanna raw burger to, with bacon and pineapple!"

"Hey, yeah," Rocco jumped on board, "I'll have what he's having. Hold the pineapple."

"Raw burger," Tripp agreed firmly, "extra tomato."

The waitress stood there, gripping her pad numbly, then stuttered something incoherent and scurried off to the kitchen.

"Don't forget the pineapple!" Claude called to her retreating back.

The restaurant was definitely cleared out now.

Kat's nostrils flared with disgust. She pulled out her bento box. Alexander grinned and slipped an arm around the Dhampir's slim shoulders. Luna was very pointedly _not looking._ Claude tossed her a wry look, and Luna quirked her lips in response. Then Claude tried the old "yawn-and-arm-over-shoulder" trick on her, and Luna couldn't help laughing. It was lame, oh so very lame, but kinda cute.

Luna had never seen very much of Claude, but she'd always liked the mischievous Halfling. When they were young, Claude and Alexander looked almost identical, but now Claude seemed determined to change that. Between the spiked, skunk-toned hair, lip ring, and punky style, he barely looked related to classic-goth Alexander. Still, when Luna looked close, she could see the resemblance. The cousins had the same sweet face and soulful brown eyes.

"Hey look," Claude's notoriously short attention span kicked in, "a jukebox."

Jagger's eyebrows raised, "I thought those only existed in fable."

"How _drole,_" Kat snorted.

"I think it's cool," Luna was defensive, "Retro."

"Yeah, you know, groovy," Claude grabbed Luna's hand, "C'mon."

Luna let herself be dragged to the machine.

"Play 'Barbie Girl'!" Rocco shouted, " 'It's Claude's favorite!"

The table cracked up, except for Jagger who promptly demanded what the hell "Barbie Girl" was.

Claude chuckled and motioned for Luna to pick a song, but there was a pink tinge to his cheeks. Luna began flipping through song sheets.

Claude peered over her shoulder at the selections, "Crap. Crap. Ugh, _Super_ crap. Ick, no. Crap. Crap. Eh. Is anyone from that band even _alive_?"

Luna bit her lip to keep from giggling at Claude's commentary. After wading through a metaphorical swamp of sugary country pop and golden oldies, Luna was ready to give up. However, the fifty cents already deposited in the machine kept her glued to the impossible task of finding music from _this_ decade

_No. No. No. __**A-Ha!**_

"At last! Success!" Luna's eyes lit up in triumph.

"Well look at that," Claude squinted at the screen, "One Rob Zombie song. We've found the holy grail."

"It's my favorite," Luna made the selection.

Claude smiled, "Mine too," then, as the first strains of 'Living Dead Girl' pumped though the jukebox, "I think we should dance."

Luna held out her hand, but then the food arrived, so they danced back to the table. The Vampires tore into their prey.

XXX

"Thanks man, this was ace," Claude shook Jagger's hand, "hey, there's this party at the old cemetery. Mostly Dhampirs and other freaks, but you wanna come?"

"Hmm, maybe another time."

The diner was closing, but the night was just beginning. Jagger knew Luna had to go home. He decided to walk back with her-it was the least he could do. Luna was being a good sport about the early departure, hugging everybody goodbye. He was glad she was in high spirits. Jagger was gathering his stuff, including the game ball he'd nabbed as a souvenir, when Alexander stood up.

"Hey, Luna. It's pretty late. Do you mind if I walk you home?"

From the look on Luna's face, Jagger knew his plans had changed. He was not adverse to this.

Luna wandered back toward the jukebox as Alexander got his jacket.

"Luna."

She turned around to see the four half-vamps facing her.

"Hey," she said, mostly addressing Claude. He looked uncanny standing there, two toned hair falling around his face with a spike-studded jacket several sizes too big, surrounded by his gang-and-family. Ephemeral in the diner's neon gleam. The Halfling's all appeared as evanescent as shadows.

"We just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything, we're here for you," Claude was uncharacteristically earnest, "Cause we know what it's like to be different, and all."

The others stood behind him in silent agreement. Rocco and Tripp nodded, Kat looked up at Luna from under her lashes.

Luna was touched, "Thank you. So much."

A rueful smile crossed Claude's face, "You're way to good for my cousin."

Luna said nothing, but she waved as he disappeared into the night with his motley gang. She went to meet Alexander in the parking lot.

"Luna."

This time, it was Jagger that stopped her.

"What?" She was eager to get to the dark-haired boy waiting for her in the lot.

"Thanks," Her twin said, blunt as can be.

"For what?" Luna felt her brows scrunch together.

"For letting me be part of your world."

"I don't know what to say," Luna hadn't known this meant so much to her brother.

Jagger shrugged, "Don't say anything," then he grinned slyly, "now go have a romantic stroll with the love of your life…or whatever."

"What about you?"

"I think I'm going to see what else your world has to offer, while I'm still a part of it."

Luna nodded, "Seeya later, then."

"Bye twin."

So Jagger headed townwise and Luna began her walk with Alexander, and the night seemed full of possibilities. As the twins parted, all they could do was wonder at how perfectly their lives had merged tonight, and if it could ever happen again.


	20. BONUS CHAPTER

**Oooookay, so this is different. Bonus Chapter! I figured I would do this after I'd finished the story, but I wanted to practice writing the twins again before I started Fifteen-I feel like I've gotten rusty. The idea for this was inspired by Fairy of the Flames in a review for Ten.**

**IMPORTANT: This is an alternative second chapter to Ten, as in it replaces Ten Part Two. Kay? Enjoy!**

**XXX**

"C'mon, one more round," Luna goaded her brother, "don't be sucha Scaredy-Bat."

"Are you calling _me_ scared?" Jagger's put-on disdain was evident even in the odd morning-night light. He sat cross-legged on a severely tilted gravestone cushioned by a coating of moss.

"Mm-hm, you're scared of being fried by the sun," Luna was doing a near perfect imitation of the stone angel behind her, hair shaken back, face pointed upwards, though she looked more impish than serene, "you are a delicate flower, Jagger Maxwell."

Irritation and amusement fought for dominance on Jagger's face, "I'm not scared. Of anything. Ever."

Luna smiled, because that was just what she wanted to hear, "Prove it."

Jagger looked up at the sky; he didn't have a choice, "Fine, one more round."

"Yay" Luna hopped up, eyes shining, "You're gonna be It, and you'll never, ever find me."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Jagger trailed a few steps behind his sister.

Luna turned around for a retort, and then she disappeared. Simply disappeared. Jagger blinked.

"Luna?" Jagger ran forward, stopping sharply when he found himself at the brink of an open grave. Below, Luna was frowning and brushing dirt from her nightgown. Jagger started to laugh, but then the ground beneath him crumbled away and he felt the dropping-elevator sensation of free-fall. He crashed into Luna and through the rotting wood of a coffin. For a moment, the twins were paralyzed, staring up at the purpling sky with wide, shocked eyes.

Jagger couldn't help it, he started laughing. Softly at first, but picking up volume. Luna scowled and smacked his arm, but then she lost it and started snickering. They were still laughing when a pair of arms wrapped around their shoulders. The siblings quieted.

"Jagger," Luna started at the same time as her brother said, "Luna."

Their eyes met, the arms squeezed. Luna shrieked, and Jagger made a choked noise. Both twins started thrashing and attempting escape, but they were packed tight amongst the dirt and splintered wood, not to mention a body that was not nearly as dead as it should have been.

Just as Luna and Jagger were reaching full-out panic mode, a surprisingly sweet voice sounded in their ears,

"Gotcha!"

The twins fell silent, swiveling to get a good look at their attacker.

"_Valentine_?" They demanded in unison.

There, round-cheeked and grinning, was their little four-year-old brother. His downy white hair shone like moonstone in the diffuse light. His emerald eyes gleamed with mischief.

"I gotcha!" He repeated gleefully.

The twins' relief over not being eaten by a zombie was greater than their annoyance at being tricked.

Luna smiled, because it was impossible to get mad at her baby brother, "Yeah Val, you got us."

Valentine was ecstatic. He turned to Jagger for approval. The older boy ruffled Valentine's hair, "Couldn't have done it better myself."

There was no masking the delight on Valentine's face as Jagger boosted him out of the grave. Jagger leapt out to join the younger vampire, then reached down and pulled Luna to the surface. Valentine lay back on the scraggly grass while the twins examined the grave.

According to the marker, it was over a hundred years old, the body it once held no more than dust. No clothes or jewelry filled the space.

" 'S all dug-up when I got here," Valentine said when Jagger prompted him, "I followed you guys," he couldn't resist adding.

Jagger raised an eyebrow at Luna, "Grave robbers."

Luna grinned, "Cool."

Valentine was playing with a blade of grass, "I'm itchy."

That was when Luna and Jagger remembered that Valentine wasn't allowed out this late.

"Val, you're getting a sunburn!" Luna had forgotten how sensitive her little brother's skin still was to the sun.

Val peered at the red flush spreading over his arm. He poked it, curious.

"Right," Jagger snatched Valentine's wrist mid-poke, "Fun's over. Time to scram."

Luna grabbed her sweatshirt-the black one, with the cat ears on the hood-from the grave she'd slung it over earlier, and promptly wrapped Valentine up in it.

Valentine giggled as the hood flopped over his eyes, "Look! I'ma kitty-cat."

Jagger and Luna smiled indulgently.

Valentine snuggled deeper into the sweatshirt as Jagger piggy-backed him out of the cemetery.

"Y'know," The four-year-old mumbled as they passed through the crooked iron gates, "You guys've both had nightmares 'bout zombies. I listen sometimes.

Jagger stopped, turned his head to face the smaller one nodding over his shoulder.

"You, he poked his little brother's nose for emphasis, "are growing into a little devil."

Luna stood on tiptoes to kiss Valentine's forehead, "We couldn't be more proud."


	21. Fifteen

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Kisses or any of its content/characters**

**Original characters: Snake and Lenore. Jezabel too, but I don't really want her. I won't take credit for Calix-he's supposed to be the vampire that turned Luna in the books; all Luna said about him was that he was Jagger's friend and had red hair, so I named him and characterized him **

**Enjoy! **

**~*Fifteen*~**

"This is gonna look _sooo_ cool," Luna enthused as she slid the eyeliner pencil down her brother's cheek. The sun had long since set, but a fat waxing moon on the horizon offered more than enough light to work by. Summer breeze flitted through the open window, touseling the twins' feathery white hair.

"It better," Jagger said, only half-joking. He didn't relish the thought of washing this gunk off.

Luna hummed, "Would I ever lie to you?" Then, before Jagger could answer, "There. All done."

She turned him to face her mirror, "Ta-da."

Jagger stared at his non-existant reflection, then tossed Luna a caustic look, "_Well?"_

"Ugh. How bad does it suck not to have a reflection?" Luna snapped a picture of Jagger with her digital camera, "Behold the wonders of the 21st century."

Little known fact: digital cameras can capture a vampire's image, unlike their film-reliant predecessors. Something about silver in the emulsion.

Jagger stared at the screen to evaluate his sister's work. A grin spread across his painted face, making the Glasgow Grin Luna'd drawn look even more grotesque, "Ve-ry cool."

"Told you so," Luna sported a self-made face painting of her own. Black and pink eyeliner curlicues grew out from her eyes and down her cheeks in a Celtic-inspired design.

It was a nostalgic thing, the body art. When Jagger and Luna were kids, they'd always gotten their faces painted on this day. Tonight they had bigger plans than the little faire of their childhood. Jagger and Luna were reminded of this by the crunch of gravel outside the castle. The twins looked at each other with matching Cheshire-Cat grins. It was time to go.

Still on a nostalgia kick, Luna slid down the banister. Jagger simply jumped over it. They pitstopped in the kitchen, where Valentine was pouring blood into his Count Chocula. He took a defiant swig from the carton before sitting down at the table. There was a sullen expression on the nine-year-old's face.

"What's up, Baby Bat?" Luna proceeded to ransack the cupboards, tossing packs of skittles, gummy worms, and chocolate bars into her purse.

"I wanna come with you guys," Valentine looked up from his cereal, big green eyes appealing to his siblings, "You never let me do anything with you."

"Another day, another time, Valen," Jagger was hastily scraping ice shavings from the freezer into an improvised paper cone. He bit the tab off a blood pack and poured its contents over the ice. A summertime favorite for adolescent vamps. He made two and handed one to Valentine. The Blood-Reader was not mollified.

"S'not fair," was all he could say.

The twins were spared from answering by the blare of a car horn.

"Hush," Luna patted her little brother's head as she and Jagger hurried from the room, "You'll have fun with mom and dad at the faire."

Valentine just pouted.

"Cause some trouble for us!" Jagger called on the way out. The front door slammed decisevly behind them.

Outside, the sky was velvet black, and the stars seemed to throb and pulse bare inches above the castle spires. It was a typical Transylvanian summer night: warm and very humid with a bite of cold air.

A van rested in the driveway awaiting the twins. It was a big, black, beat-up thing, and one of its more puckish occupants had scrawled "FREE CANDY" across the side. A heavily tinted window rolled down to expose a scarlet Mohawk-bedecked head. Tendrils of sweet-smelling smoke curled out from the window, creating a halo around the driver.

"Night's a'waistin'" The boy called. He looked a year or two older than Jagger and Luna, with gleaming brown eyes, a roguish face, and that unforgettable crimson hairdo.

Jagger grinned broadly, "Hey man, Punk is dead!"

"Nah, man, it's undead."

Luna could tell that the exchange was an inside joke. It was weird to think that Jagger had this whole other life while she slept.

Without hesitation, Jagger hopped into the passanger seat of the van. Mr. Mohawk got out to pull open a heavy metal door for the other Maxwell.

Luna very nearly licked her lips. The driver was tall, and his chest was bare and well-muscled under a leather motorcycle vest. She thanked him for helping her up into the van.

He smiled, eyes crinkling adorably at the edges, "Luna, right? Jagger's mentioned you. I'm Calix."

"_Very_ nice to meet you," Luna flirted. Calix waited for Luna to settle into a cracked vinyl seat before slamming the door and returning the wheel. Luna's eyes adjusted quickly to the dim light.

There were three other vampires in the van: two girls a row behind Luna, and a boy beside her. One girl with flowing, pumpkin orange hair sneered at Luna and looked away. Jagger introduced her as Jezabel.

Lenore, a tiny thing with dyed, toxic green hair, and Snake, also slight with black curls and mossy eyes, held hands over the seat divider. They waved their free hands at Luna in eerie unison. Though it was obvious from their coloring that the two weren't related, there was a sameness about them-same androgynous beauty, same huge, mischievous eyes. Two people on the same wavelength.

Jezabel huffed from the backseat, "Can we _go_ now?"

Calix peeked into the rearview mirror, "Sure thing, princess."

Luna smiled at his tone: simultaneously mocking and affectionate. It told Luna that Calix and Jezabel were related.

"Cousins," Jagger confirmed when Luna caught his eye.

In the back, Snake and Lenore hooted, "_Yeah_, let's get this show on the _road_."

The van started rolling, and Jagger started flipping through radio stations. The sound was incredible, every chord reverberating off the metal walls. He leaned back in his red velvet-upholstered seat, ready to enjoy the ride.

_Man, I love it here_.

Jagger had been spending nearly every night in this van, with these friends, for a year. It was like have a second home, and a second family. He liked that Luna here, meeting his friends. Felt like two halves of his life coming together.

Inside the van, it was a haven for teen vampires and Goths alike: the air was foggy and fragrant from incense and clove cigarettes, and every window was blocked out with black lipstick or spraypaint, save for a tiny rectangle of windshield. Song lyrics and obscure symbols were scrawled over the walls in red paint. Packs of blood and candy wrappers littered the floor.

Sure, the metal interior and lack of air conditioning made the van one giant oven, but that's a triviality when you're fifteen.

"Faster! Faster! C'mon!" Snake and Lenore urged once the van was rumbling along the main road.

"Everybody buckle up," Calix ordered, obviously joking, since there were no seat belts, "speed kills."

Then he slammed his foot on the gas. Lenore shrieked with delight.

"Not too fast, Cal," Jezebel's golden eyes bored venomously into Luna's, "we do have a _human_ in the car."

Luna, having grown up in a family of vampires, knew exactly how to handle this: she pulled her lips back from her teeth and _snarled_.

Then she turned to the boy beside her, "So, Snake, huh? Your parents name you that?"

"Actually," he beamed, "M'real name's Zotheculus, but that doesn't really…roll off the tongue."

Snake emphasized by sticking out his own tongue, which happened to be split down the middle. He wiggled each half in turn.

Luna tilted her head to the side, "I'm not sure whether that's awesome or creepy. Or both."

Lenore leaned over the seat to stage-whisper in Luna's ear, "It makes kissing _amazing_."

After hearing that, most of the van-goers voted "creepy." A heated debate ensued.

An hour later, they were zooming down a desolate stretch of highway, passionately discussing the merits of steam punk and cybergoth.

"Hotter than hell in here," Jagger remarked.

So, they cranked down the windows and howled at the rising moon.

**XXX**

**Wonder where this little road trip is heading? =]**

**Do da review thing**


	22. Fifteen Part II

A bloated moon hung heavy on the horizon as the van's tires squealed to a stop. Teenagers clamored out of the vehicle, desperate for fresh air. They'd driven all last night, spent the day inside, and set out again at dusk, stopping only to sleep and deal with some unfortunate traffic cops over a speeding violation. They gained two pairs of handcuffs, a speedometer, and a box of donuts from that venture.

Now, the teens were wound-up, free of pesky adult supervision, and finally at their destination: Bat Beach, so named for the overwhelming bat population, as well as for being a popular vampire vacation spot. The beach itself was a long, crescent-shaped scar of rocky sand, surrounded by tossing waves on one end and jagged black cliffs on the other. Tomorrow the beach would be packed with vamps, but tonight it belonged to the six carsick teens.

Jagger took a deep, unnecessary breath of briny air. Ocean spray and sea breeze slapped at his face. He grinned, a slightly wicked grin, "Kinda makes you feel alive."

Then, without another word, the group took off toward the ocean, shedding unneeded clothing as they went, and plunged into the icy water. It was exhilaratingly, numbingly cold underwater, which was just what the teens needed after all those hours in the stifling van.

Luna popped to the surface into a splashing, wrestling frenzy. Spray from splash-fights and chicken-matches hit her from all angles, and wayward vamps bumped into her from time to time. Something brushed Luna's ankle, and she whirled to see Lenore grinning at her from underwater. Her pale skin and poison-green hair cast an eerie glow, reminding Luna of some exotic, deep-sea anemone.

Lenore hopped up beside Luna and squealed, "Hide me!" Just as Snake grabbed her around the waist. There was a bit of thrashing before both vampires disappeared underwater in an explosion of foam.

Luna watched the pair, bemused. She didn't notice Jagger until he shot up from the brine just inches in front of her. The white-haired vampire laughed as his sister shrieked and pitched backwards into the waves. His laughter ceased when she resurfaced with puffed out cheeks and mischievous eyes. Before Jagger could make a move, she squirted a stream of salt water into his face. Luna turned, not giving her twin a chance to recover, and swam towards a flash of crimson she'd spotted a few feet away. An arm came to the surface and waved. Luna giggled and grabbed the wrist to tow Calix up. She beamed at the redhead.

"Race you to the jetty," She said in a rush, then shot off toward the breakwater. Seconds later, Calix was beside her.

Luna was a fast swimmer, but even with a head-start Calix beat her.

_I hate being around vampires_, Luna huffed mentally while Calix helped her up the serrated black rocks, _it gives me an inferiority complex_.

She pulled the pigtails from her hair to comb it out with her fingers. Beside her, Calix chuckled. He was so close, she could _feel_ the rumble of his laughter.

"You look like a mermaid," He told her, "An honest-to-god, freakin' mermaid. Without the tail," he paused before adding, "I mean that in a good way."

"Funny," Luna smiled and leaned back against him, "When I was a kid, 'The Little Mermaid' was my favorite movie."

"Well don't tell anybody," Calix bent forward to whisper in Luna's ear, "but my favorite was 'Bambi.'"

Luna looked up at him through her lashes, "Your secret is safe with me."

XXX

Jezebel was doing handstands in a shallow section of water. Jagger snuck up behind her.

"Jez," he murmured, voice low. He'd been hoping to make the ginger jump, but all she did was tilt her chin down so that a swath of wildfire hair hid her face.

"Jagger," she returned, mocking his tone.

For some reason, Jagger was enjoying this. A lot.

But he had a point to get to.

"I've heard there's an island somewhere out there," he motioned over the horizon, "I thought I might try and swim to it. Think you could keep up?"

Jez turned and fixed him with a blinding smile that showed both long, pointed fangs,

"I think…that this will be fun."

XXX

Luna and Calix had found a cavern in the jetty, set deep into the rocks. The moon perched directly above, painting the whole alcove silver. To Luna, it was all so ridiculously romantic, it gave her shivers.

Luna's fingers traced the bumpy body of a starfish clinging to the wall, but she was looking at Calix, thinking of how different he looked now than he did in the van. His scarlet hair fell in wild tangles around his face, softening his sharp features. Also, she was noticing something she hadn't before.

"You have freckles," She said wonderingly, "I've never seen a vampire with freckles."

"I'm of a rare and dying breed," Calix teased.

Luna put her hand to Calix's cheek, covering some of the barely visible, pale orange dots sprinkled across his face. Their eyes met, and there was a surge of power, a taste like the air after a lightening storm. Suddenly the _crash_ of breaking waves and _slurp_ of water being sucked through the rocks seemed a jillion times louder.

Then, Calix's body flowed forward to ensnare Luna's lips with his own. Sapphire eyes flew open in shock, and then Luna thought,

_Why not?_

XXX

Jagger and Jezebel resurfaced simultaneously. Out this far, they could see nothing but each other and unending on all sides. Even if there were no fog, they wouldn't be able to see the shoreline-they were well behind the horizon.

To Jagger, it was a heady sensation, to be beyond all boundaries. There were no rules out here.

Below, the predators of the deep hunted for their suppers. A tiger shark bumped Jagger's ankle. It righted itself and drifted onward.

"So, this island…" Jez prompted.

"Doesn't exist," Jagger finished for her, "I made it up."

"Well, you're evil plan worked. You've gotten us both out here," Jez's smile was catlike, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could play Twenty Questions, but if you had another sugges-" Jagger stopped, glided his hand over the surface of the water, and smirked, "Oh this is _too_ precious."

Jezabel looked down at the shimmering trail that followed the wake of Jagger's hand. She laughed and spun around twice, surrounding herself in a pool of light, "What are the odds?"

"Will-O'-The-Wisps," Jagger said as he traced a 'J' in the water, "That's what they call this stuff."

"Oh, how disgustingly romantic," Jez simpered, because every time one of them disturbed the water, the algae filaments within left starbursts of incandescent gold light.

"Be still my un-beating heart," Jagger put a hand to his chest ironically, then he looked at Jez and chuckled, "It's all in your hair."

"Oh, really?" The ginger touched her head, then made a face, "It's _slimy_."

"Here, let me," Jagger reached forward to pull the sticky veil from Jez's tangerine tresses. His fingertips brushed her neck. Jagger felt his lips part, revealing razor-sharp canines.

Jez surprised him by putting her hand on Jagger's own neck. She looked at him with burning gold eyes, "You first."

She arched her neck, and Jagger could feel his fangs descending further at the sight of ivory skin.

Instinct took over.

Jez gasped as Jagger plunged his fangs into her neck.

XXX

Luna examined the shell's hypnotic pink swirls before tucking it into the pocket of her daisy-dukes. On this side of the beach, the sand was soft as ashes, and the waves rolled gently over the shore. It was very nearly peaceful.

After their dip, the teens had checked out the caves and called dibs on the best one-deep and dark, with stalactites and a stagnating pond on one side for atmosphere. After that, Snake and Lenore went looking for dead things to poke with sticks, Jez and Calix tried to coax a fire out of driftwood, and Jagger slipped off to some undisclosed location. Luna decided to look for shells.

Just as she was reaching the end of the beach, a red and white head emerged from a scraggly clutch of dunes. Jagger was looking to the sky, the faintest of smiles on his ghostly lips. He hadn't noticed Luna yet.

"Whatcha got?" Luna asked, eyeing the sheath of rice paper in her brother's hand.

"Rubbings," Jagger looked away from the stars toward his sister, "There's a fishermen's memorial up that way."

"Glad you found a way to suck the fun out of the seashore," Luna teased.

She recognized that silver flame in her twin's eyes, the one he always got when he was doing his grave rubbings. She'd always admired Jagger for it, the way he embraced death rather than fearing it, though she would never tell _him_ that.

"Well, when you think about it, the ocean is one big grave," Jagger said, unable to resist baiting his sister, " with room for billions of bones."

"Why Jagger, you're a poet," Luna said tonelessly, "Also-_Ew._"

Jagger just smiled his most twisted smile.

XXX

The fire was small and rather sad due to lack of wood and damp sea air, but it was enough to roast marshmallows on. Calix strummed his ancient acoustic guitar, while Snake and Lenore put on a Shadow Puppet Theatre. The vampires all felt light and safe within the cave's recesses, despite the eerie green streaks slicing the brightening sky.

When the marshmallows were gone, the teens told ghost stories like elementary school kids. Then they got comfy and played "Truth or Dare" like middle school kids. Then Jez broke out a flask and they played "I Never" like high school kids.

Once the veil of night began to dissipate, Calix packed in his guitar and winked at Luna before reverting to bat form. Snake and Lenore's lips were locked as they transformed. The pair had a little aerial wrestling match before selecting a perch.

By the time Luna thought to look for Jagger, he was already morphed and perched on Luna's shoulder like a creepy, mammalian parrot. Luna had a brief image of herself as a gothic pirate.

"Ick, get off me rodent," She made to brush her bat-brother off. Jagger then hopped to the ground and did a little bat dance.

"You're a huge dork, you know that?" Luna scorned, but the insult was marred by her laughter. Jagger responded with an odd chittering noise, which, of course, made Luna laugh harder.

When the vampires were all comfortably roosted, Luna balled up her sweatshirt and sprawled out on the cave floor.

"Sweet nightmares, guys," she murmured. There was a smile on her face as she closed her eyes.

The bats above fluttered their replies.

XXX

**Ack, long chapter! And I hate writing romantic-ish stuff, but I thought both the twins deserved a summer fling =] Boost my ego and drop a review!**


	23. Fifteen Part III

**Soooooo, this chapter was taking way too long. So I split it. And now there will be another chapter to Fifteen. *headdesk* Annnnnnyyyyyway…**

**~*Fifteen Part Three*~**

_Cur-ACK! SPLASH!_

Jagger awoke, confused and soaking wet, in a pool of ice cold, scummy water. The vampire looked around in bewilderment, trying to remember where he was and why. He got his answer from a spray of dust off the broken stalactite above.

Well, crap.

_Must've changed forms in my sleep,_ Jagger thought, embarrassed, _haven't done that since I was eight at most…_

Thankfully, the others were still sleeping, save for Luna, who was valiantly trying to hold back hysterics.

"Smooth," The girl said, smirking.

"Felt like an early morning dip," Jagger snarked back, "Did I wake you up?"

"Nope," Luna lent a hand to help Jagger out of the pond, "The new arrivals did."

Curious and still dripping, Jagger wandered to the cave mouth with Luna in tow.

"The first of many," he remarked as he took in the scene on the beach.

Outside, the sky was fiery with sunset colors, but a number of vampires were milling about: A multi-pierced group tuning instruments by the jetty, a leather-clad motorcycle clan parking the bikes in the sand, and a handful of vendors setting up booths on and under the rotting stretch of boardwalk.

"And _there_," Jagger said, pointing toward center-shore, "are our entertainment providers."

Jagger and Luna looked out on the most striking cluster of vampires. There were three of them, each with tangled, floor-sweeping hair and swirling tattoos covering every inch of exposed flesh. Their long, sinewy bodies worked with impossible speed and strength to pile wood and straw.

Luna whistled, impressed, "That'll be some bonfire..."

"And this'll be some night," Jagger smirked, finishing his sister's thought.

As the last traces of sunset faded away, the twins turned to grin at each other, eyes shining barbarically in the cave's shadows.

XXX

"Row, row, _row_ yer boat, gently down tha _stream_~" Lenore trilled, her sweet, mad voice competing with the rushing wind.

Luna laughed because the song was both oddly fitting and utterly inappropriate for their situation. Presently, Snake, Lenore, and Luna were packed three to a Jetski of dubious acquisition, careening through roiling black waves to an undisclosed location. It was the kind of fun only a couple of semi-deranged vampire lovebirds could provide.

Said lovebirds had wrapped themselves around Luna's arms early that evening and steered her toward a rickety dock.

"We're going on an _adventure_," Lenore had sung as a shiny new Jetski bobbed incongruously into view.

"Looking for buried treasure," Snake told Luna, relishing the words.

Luna had cocked her head to the side, considering. Adventure, buried treasure, and just enough ambiguity to be intriguing…

So here she was, fuchsia nails digging into Snake's waist as the Jetski jolted three feet in the air at a particularly nasty wake. The vampiric duo hooted, and Luna found herself whooping along with them. Apparently, insanity was contagious.

Just when Luna was convinced that Snake and Lenore were dragging her on a Snipe hunt of their own invention, the Jetski reeled a sharp left and set for the shore of a salt marsh.

The parking and dismount of the Jetski were highly unpleasant for all involved.

At last, the when trio was standing upon sticky, sucky ground, Snake and Lenore exchanged a quick high-five and scrambled to a stand of trees.

Then they stopped. Looked around. Stopped again.

The pair was uncharacteristically still and silent as they did a quadruple take.

"Hmmm…" Lenore scratched her head, apparently stumped.

Snake squinted in thought, "Coulda sworn we left shovels around here _somewhere_."

XXX

Back at the beach, Jez and Jagger were providing each other with breakfast. Jez had caught sight of the sandbar-a silvery stretch of land rising from the eddying waters-and proceeded to tug Jagger through several meters of chilly, knee-high water to get there.

…And once they were there, they had to come up with something to _do_. And they were both hungry. So.

Granted, a sandbar was not the most private of places, but the excitement was in its ephemeral nature-come high tide, it would be gone.

But Jez and Jagger weren't thinking about that.

_Nothing can compare with straight-from-the vein,_ Jagger thought as ruby liquid gushed from Jez's upturned wrist into his mouth, hot, salty, and zinging with a sour-cherry flavor that was distinctly Jez.

They'd been at this for some time now, trying different styles-Jez liked to incorporate her pin teeth-and access points. Call Jagger a purist, but his favorite spot was the neck. They'd tried the inner thigh, but it was awkward and got sand in all the wrong places. Though, Jagger was starting to like the wrist more and more-something about how soft that particular stretch of skin felt against Jagger's lips was very appealing…

Abruptly, Jagger was snapped from his hazy thoughts as Jez grabbed his face between her hands. In the next instant, mismatched eyes locked with gold, and it was Jagger who closed the distance between their lips. He knotted his hands in flame-wild hair as Jez dug her fingers into his sides. Leftover blood from Jagger's mouth swirled between them as their tongues twined. It was a strange and wonderful kiss-burning hot and tinted with blood-haze.

Roughly, Jez and Jagger pulled apart, and it felt like they were both on fire.

XXX

Luna could not get enough of Calix. She and he were making-out behind a makeshift stage, pretending to watch the band set up-and Luna felt electrified.

_More, more, more_,the words resounded in Luna with every heartbeat, every crash of waves.

"We should-" Calix began, voice husky

"No," Luna cut off, breathless but authoritative. Calix didn't object.

All of this was no good, Luna knew that. She should be thinking of Alexander, and that they were promised, and how they would be bound together next year, but for once, _Luna didn't care._ Not one bit. And it was intoxicating

Then, Calix leaned down to kiss Luna's neck, and _oh!_ She cracked her eyes open to see Calix, haloed in sanguine light from the red gels, and something inside her burst.

"Bite me," She gasped, "Right now. Do it."

She wanted this moment forever, for Calix's lips-so soft, like velvet-to never leave hers, to be the person she was right now for all eternity.

But instead of feeling fangs tear into her neck, Luna felt Calix draw back.

"Now hold on," The redhead said, eyebrows furrowing, "What did you just say?"

"Change me," Luna enunciated, already impatient. With the absence of Calix's lips, the heat swirling inside her was no longer exciting-it was frustrating.

"Aw, come on. You can't expect me t-"

"I'm _sick_ of being human," Luna felt the first roilings of anger in her gut, "it's past time for me to evolve."

She was being irrational, deep down Luna could sense that, but she couldn't think straight with all the blood buzzing in her ears, couldn't hear over the erratic thump of her heart. All she knew was that she was _furious_. How dare this boy say no to her, when it wasn't even his decision to make? As a Maxwell, it was Luna's _birthright_ to be a vampire; what gave anyone the right to deny her?

Luna was about to say as much when Calix put his hands on her shoulders, as if to steady her.

"Look," He said, keeping his eyes fixed on Luna's, "I don't want either of us to make any life-ending decisions for you just cause we're young and caught up in the moment. Okay?"

And just like that, the dark, ugly anger that had reared up in Luna started to drain.

"This is what I've wanted my whole life," Luna insisted. Her fury was gone, but her conviction was still evident.

Calix shook his head. He was smiling softly, but there was something somber in his eyes.

"See, you say that," Calix touched Luna's cheek with a tenderness that made her feel guilty, "But I don't think you know what you want at all."

The words should have made Luna mad. She wanted to be mad. But she couldn't.

"No," She said, looking out at the hissing, spitting waves, "No. I guess I don't."

Calix took Luna's face in his hands and murmured, "Let me know when you've figured it out."

**XXX**

**Next part will be out in less than a week. Please leave a review to tell me what you think!**


	24. Fifteen Part IV

**Wow, I really suck at updating.** **This chapter was so fun to write, but I'm excited to be moving into Sixteen-it's a big year! Please review with any comments, suggestions, or insults =]**

**~*Fifteen Part Four*~**

The caverns held a great amount of interest for Jagger-his morbid inner child still urged him to explore mysterious, dark places. Already, the beach was becoming quite the scene, and Jagger felt like scoping out the more secluded areas before they too were filled with the throng.

_Besides_, he thought, _these strange, old places can surprise you._

His curiosity was almost immediately rewarded. It would have been easy to miss the strange cave, well hidden amongst the others, but Jagger always had an eye for the bizarre. First, he saw a flash of red, and then he saw the black velvet draping covering the cave mouth. Metallic red paint blared from the velvet, announcing "Dreams and Desires" in dripping calligraphy. On the sand below, someone had scrawled, "Open."

Well, Jagger was thoroughly intrigued.

Without hesitation, he pushed back the curtain to enter a rocky cache crammed with hundreds of black wax candles. In the center, surrounded by flickering flames, was what appeared to be an old-fashioned dentist chair.

Jagger smiled inwardly, _Curioser and curiouser…_

And then he noticed the figures on both sides of the room: a man and a woman with starlight blond hair and supernova black eyes.

"So," Jagger greeted the pair, "What do you do here?"

The woman stepped forward, revealing the pale rainbow streaks in her hair and the scant clothing that clung to her hairpin curves for dear life.

"We thought the sign was self-explanatory," She said. Her voice was husky, and her eyes danced with amusement.

"Yes, 'Dreams and Desires,'" Jagger quoted back, "Very interesting, but not very informative."

"We do tattoos and piercing," The man answered after a beat. He was long and lean, with a dreamy expression on his face. He spoke so softly, Jagger doubted a human would be able to hear him at all.

"And which one of you does what?" Jagger asked, curious about the enigmatic pair.

The woman smiled, "Inky does the dreams," she pointed the male, who smiled the barest of grins.

"And Suki does the desires," He finished.

Jagger couldn't help but be amused; the flaxen duo was bizarre, but nobody had ever accused Jagger of being normal.

"Fine, sign me up," he said, striding toward the chair, "My name's Jagger Maxwell, by the way."

"Oooh," Suki's mouth hung melodramatically agape, "The Ba'al Prince."

Jagger raised an eyebrow, surprised by the use of title, "Oh, no one pays attention to that crap anymore," he chuckled."

"We do," Inky said without hesitation or inflection.

That made Jagger look at the pair more closely. They looked to be in their twenties, but they must have been very old to even think to use the honorific. It was true that his family was of royal descent, but nobody really _cared_ anymore.

As he thought this, Inky and Suki moved about the alcove, collecting one thing or another from the small stools littered amidst the dancing flames. Soon, Suki was standing over him.

"Now, I warn you, our methods are…peculiar," Suki admonished, sprinkling some glittery black dust over Jagger's head. Some of her hair brushed Jagger's arm, soft as corn silk. Instantly, he started to feel tired.

"For instance, you're going to need to be asleep," Inky explained as Jagger's eyes began to close.

"_And,_" Suki giggled, "_I'm_ going to need to kiss you."

"_What_-" Jagger started to speak, but fell abruptly unconscious.

The vampire teen woke up to the feeling of full lips against his forehead. As he roused himself, Suki drew back, smiling.

"You have pretty eyes," The woman said, "Sapphire and emerald."

Inky stood in the corner, eyes closed, as though in a trance. Both blonds seemed to radiate a thin aura of light that Jagger was certain hadn't existed before.

"Well," Jagger said, "_that_ was very strange."

Suki giggled unrepentantly. Jagger felt a tingle running up his arm and across his forehead, but there was no pain. As if by magic, a single word, _Possess_, was calligraphed across his arm, and three silver rings punctuated his eyebrows.

It was perfect.

He met Suki's eyes, lighter now, almost white, and she shrugged "We guarantee results."

Jagger nodded, unsure of what to say other than, "So how much do I owe you?"

"You've already paid," Inky's lulling voice hummed from the corner.

"So go ahead," Suki affirmed, gesturing to the cave mouth, "Scoot."

What else could Jagger do? He got up and walked to the exit, pausing when he reached the velvet curtain. He turned one last time to smile at the blonds, "You two are a different sort of demon, aren't you?"

XXX

"Hey, you," Luna tapped Jagger's shoulder from behind on the boardwalk. When the vampire turned around, Luna let out a low whistle, which Jagger ignored.

"Check it out, Psi-Vamps" Jagger motioned toward a smoky, gold-upholstered booth boasting mysticism and divination, "Some of them are Blood-Readers, like Val."

At the moment, Luna could care less about the booth.

"That's some new look," she declared, reaching to touch one of the silver rings studding her brother's brow.

"I think they bring out my eyes," Jagger bantered back.

"_And_ a tattoo?" Luna gaped at the blood red calligraphy exposed by Jagger's sleeveless black shirt-an ironic number that read, in blood-splattered print, "_A zombie ate my brain, but I'm still smarter than you." _The tattoo, on the other hand, was comprised of one cryptic word:_ Possess_.

_What's __**that**__ supposed to mean, I wonder?_ Luna couldn't help thinking that her brother was very strange.

"Apparently, it's what I most desire. Jagger answered Luna's thoughts with that eerie twin telepathy, shrugging, "Or maybe what I dream of. I'm not really sure."

"Well it's deadly cool, even if I have no idea what you're talking about," Luna laughed. She might have said more, but her next step sent her leg crashing through the moldering boards.

"Hey!" A surprised jewelry vendor shouted from a booth below as Luna flailed for a handhold.

"Oh yeah, like I totally planned this!" the white-haired girl yelled back, wincing as Jagger pulled her up onto solid ground. Luna huffed in annoyance as she brushed splinters off her legs.

When she looked up at her brother, she could see that his eyes were laughing. Just as he started to speak, Luna cut him off with a single question: "Remember how you fell of the stalactite this evening?"

All traces of humor left Jagger's face, "We shall never speak of this."

Luna nodded solemnly and handed him a chunk of cotton candy as a truce. As the sugar-candy dissolved in Jagger's mouth, he noted that Luna had also undergone some cosmetic changes: her flowing white hair had been dyed bubblegum pink, and shimmering fuchsia gems lined her cheek like off-color tears. Also, there was a rather creepy unicorn plushy clutched to the girl's chest.

Jagger smiled, knowing Luna's penchant for cute things. At that moment, Jagger couldn't help thinking that his sister was even stranger than he was.

"So, when are things going to really get started?" Luna wondered aloud as the twins traversed the expanse of boardwalk. Jagger's combat boots, present even under his simple black swim trunks, thunked mercilessly against the planks. He shrugged.

"Dunno."

Luna harrumphed, and they kept walking. As the band on the beach cued up a faster-tempo song, Luna made her walk into a dance-a very silly one. Jagger watched, deadpanned, then tossed his remaining cotton candy chunk at her. The sticky pink wisp clung to Luna's equally rosy locks. Instead of removing it, she kept up her dance until Jagger gave in and laughed.

"Was that so hard?" Luna asked, happy with her success.

"I may have ruptured a lung," Jagger retorted lightly.

Both siblings smiled inwardly; it felt good to goof off. Their bantering was interrupted, however, by the ripple of excitement ran down the beach and over the boardwalk: the ceremony was beginning.

Jagger grinned at his sister, offering his elbow, "Shall we?"

"We shall!" Luna beamed back, linking arms.

And with that, the twins vaulted over the splintering railing and dashed for the beaches center, arm-in-arm.

By now, the shore had become a full-out fanged freak-fest. Young vampires packed the crescent of sand, milling about, jostling, moshing in front of the stage, and being overall nuisances. Hulking above them all was a gargantuan wicker man, courtesy of the long-haired tattoo trio currently setting fire to the wooden giant's feet.

"We welcome you to the Summer Solstice," one of them shouted, "We welcome you to the Return of Darkness!"

The answering cheer was deafening as the night's festivities really began. It was a wonderful, chaotic scene. The moon was perfectly round and red, a glowing blood orange in the sky above that illuminated the flames snaking up Wicker Man's thighs. The band's cover of an Echo and the Bunnymen song reverberated off the twisting, basalt cliffs, and "Fangrias" of unknown origin passed through the crowd. The cacophony was astounding, and Jagger and Luna were enjoying every minute of it.

Before long, the wooden man was fully engulfed by hungry flames, devoured by licks of red and gold. Luna nudged Jagger when she saw Snake and Lenore burst through the crowd, each holding one end of an honest-to-God antique treasure chest. With slippery grace, the twosome wormed their way right next to the blaze. Few party-goers noticed as they flipped the chest's lid and dumped its colorful contents into the inferno, and then,

_BoomHisssSnarlPOP__**BANG!**_

Neon lights burst from the flames into the sky, flashing upon Snake and Lenore's wild-eyed, cherubic faces. At that moment, Jagger and Luna could only smile-they'd always believed that no celebration was complete without fireworks.

From there, everything became, if possible, even more crazed, and the twins sat back on the sand to watch the beautiful destruction.


	25. Sixteen Part I

**Finally at Sixteen-a very important year! This was supposed to be two chapters, but they were waaaay too long, so I divided them. Hope you like =]**

**~*Sixteen Part One*~ **

Today was the day that everything would begin to change for the Maxwell twins: they were turning sixteen. Preparations for their party were being completed in the castle, so, on the evening of their birthday, Jagger and Luna found themselves in their courtyard, enjoying a fresh layer of snowfall.

As the stars emerged from the frosty sky, Jagger and Valentine play-wrestled in the silvery powder, kicking up sparkling eddies of snow with their tumbles.

"C'mon guys!" Luna cheered the boys on from her perch-straddling one of the gargoyles as though it was a deformed stone horse, "Are you getting tired already?"

Neither brother responded, but that was fine. Luna took a contemplative sip of marshmallow-laden hot cocoa, remembering how she used to scrap like that with Jagger when they were both very young. Presently, Jagger was letting Valentine win, and Luna had to smile because he'd never done the same for her.

"Do we have a winner yet?" She called out, sing-song voice ringing out in the frozen air.

She had her answer when Jagger gasped out, "Mercy!"

The white-haired teen was still choking on laughter as a positively glowing Valentine released him from a headlock.

Luna clapped and whooped, and the boys prepared for another round. The siblings could have spent all evening like that, but at that moment the distant church bells clanged, shattering the moment. It was time now to prepare for the other major event; Jagger and Luna had been born on the night of the winter solstice, after all.

XXX

"Ah, no matter how old I get, I just can _not_ listen to these old windbags talk," Jagger sighed with a roll of his mismatched eyes.

"And how are we supposed to take them seriously in those outfits?" Luna scoffed back, "You'd think this was the freakin' Renaissance Faire."

Believe it or not, this was a time-honored tradition to the Maxwell twins: every year, the high-blooded vampire families came together on this night, and every year Jagger and Luna snarked their way through it. Their parents had long since given up on shushing them, and instead sat stone-faced on their ornate oak chairs, pretending to listen to the speeches rather than their children's wise-cracks.

"The whole ceremony is a joke, anyway," Jagger remarked as a ridiculously old vampire in Shakespearian garb recited the Sacred Rites of something or another, "Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, Equinox-they're all just excuses to throw parties."

"Don't forget Samhain, Beltane, and Yule," Luna agreed cheerfully, "I like those best-not as much of this stuffy, ceremonial crap."

On the chair between the twins, Valentine giggled nervously. Like all the ruling families, they were situated on a small, decorated stage, and anybody who spared a glance could see that Luna and Jagger weren't paying attention. Not that they cared-they were having far too much fun being cynical.

"Blah, Bla-Biddy-Blah," Luna let her head hang over the back of her chair, "all this babble about darkness, and I'm not even a vampire yet."

"Shhh, he's getting to the part about 'The Cold Bite of Death,'" Jagger chortled "I think that bit's my favorite."

As kids, they'd always tried to get out of going to the ceremonies, but, being descendents of the last pure Ba'al line, their efforts were fruitless. The fact that the Winter Solstice just happened to fall on their birthday meant they were double-screwed. Often, they would sneak off the stage to slip-slide across the frozen lake on which the festivities were held, but this year the twins were under special scrutiny. This year, when the usual rites were concluded, Jagger had his own part to play in the ceremony.

"Well then," Jagger murmured as the archaically dressed vampires stepped down, "I guess that's my cue."

With a cocky smirk, the teen stood up, stretched, and grinned at his siblings before leaping deftly from the platform and strolling over to the main stage. The crowd quieted as Jagger mounted the stage. He was dressed "formally" in a red silk shirt, black blazer, and black dress pants tucked into knee-high combat boots, riveted with spikes down to their thick steel soles. Well, he considered it to be formal.

Jagger looked over the crowd of vampires, all in their finery, amassed on the ice. He smiled.

"It is traditional for me, as the ascending Ba'al Prince, to make a speech", he began eloquently, before adding, "but I don't give a damn about tradition."

Stunned silence. Laughter and whoops from the restless teens in the crowd.

Once his listeners settled, Jagger went on, "But I do care about what's happening now, and what's happening now is change-change for me, and for my family."

His previously cavalier tone had become utterly earnest, his gaze fixed, as he continued, "My sister-my twin-Luna will be bonded in soul tomorrow with Alexander Sterling," Jagger turned his piercing gaze to the Sterling family stage, where aforementioned dark-haired teen sat watching the speech with an inscrutable expression.

"He is the Belial Prince in title," Jagger acknowledged, "But his title is of no importance to me. My personal feelings towards him-" At this, both Luna and Alexander winced "-are also irrelevant. Really, the only thing that I find important is that Luna, my twin, is happy. And I think she will be. And that's all that matters."

Stunned, Luna stared at this boy on the podium, scarcely believing that he was really her brother. She didn't know she'd started crying until a tear landed on the pink chiffon sash of her gown.

On stage, Jagger was onto the next part of his speech. With the crowd's full attention, he continued, "On this, the eve of my sixteenth birthday, I forfeit my title to the Ba'al Prince In-Waiting-my little brother, Valentine. He is a powerful, gifted vampire, and, truly, an extraordinary child. I will not wish him luck-he doesn't need it."

Now, Luna dared a glance at Valentine. The ten-year-old was hanging on Jagger's every word, little mouth agape.

At this point, Jagger closed his eyes and took a breath, steadying himself against some invisible wave of emotion for the final portion of his speech. When he did speak, his voice was utterly dispassionate.

"I will now take my place as head of the Maxwell clan. I claim my residence in Castle de Lethe-The Greater Maxwell Estate. I have begun the search for a mate."

Once he'd said all there was to say, Jagger looked over the crowd one last time. He cracked a smile, "Well, wasn't that fun? It has been a true _honor _to address you all tonight."

With that last, sarcasm-laced word, Jagger gave a dramatic, sweeping bow and waltzed back to his seat. There was a _biiiig_ smirk on his face, but Luna hadn't forgotten the important parts of the speech, the ones Jagger had delivered without a hint of irony. She wasn't going to let him for get either.

"You," Luna declared, poking Jagger on the arm, "Are a big mushy softie."

Jagger stared straight ahead, but he couldn't stop the little smile creeping across his face.

"Oh, shut up."


	26. Sixteen Part II

"Oh God, I am so ready for a bit of havoc," Luna declared as she worked the complicated plaits out of her hair so that it fell loose and wild down her back.

Jagger shrugged off his blazer, letting it fall in a crumpled black pile on the ice, and grunted in agreement, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

The twins were doubling back to the castle, eager to reach what would undoubtedly be the biggest party of the night: theirs. The decorations had been set up, food and entertainment prepared, and invitations set out; the only thing left was for Jagger and Luna to enjoy it.

Upon reaching the door, Luna and Jagger stopped, listening to the music seeping through the stone walls.

"Sounds like our party started without us," Jagger remarked, amused.

"So we're fashionably late," Luna wrapped her hand around the door handle, "Let's go."

"After you," Jagger said with a grin.

Luna entered eagerly, and Jagger followed suit.

"You know what?" Luna's voice was breathless as she surveyed the entryway, "I like this already."

Jagger knew what she meant-the walls of this room were no longer visible, covered with stacks of glittering presents. As Luna took another moment to admire the gifts, Jagger scouted ahead to the parlor.

"Looks like hell in here," He reported back, "Y'know, in a good way."

Black balloons, dangling strands of dark crepe paper, and Oriental lanterns decorated the parlor, all of which flashed in and out of focus in time with blinding strobe lights. Delicacies of both human and vampiric variety lined a velvet draped table on one wall. The wet bar in the corner offered fresh-made frozen drinks in every imaginable shade of red, as well as some peculiar neon hues, each with its own bizarre name. Blaring music cranked from the top-notch speaker system.

Jagger and Luna very much approved.

"About how many do you think are crashers?" Luna asked her brother, referring to the multitude of guests swarming the castle.

"At least 60%," Jagger answered, "Maybe more."

Luna nodded, finding this reasonable, "A party isn't cool unless people crash it, anyway."

As the twins passed, they swiped fingerfuls of black licorice icing from their massive, nine-tiered birthday cake. After grabbing a pair of lavender-colored drinks (cleverly entitled 'Purple Hazes') from the wet bar, Jagger and Luna moved onto the maze-like set of small, color-coded rooms that comprised most of the castle's first floor.

The sensory overload was instantaneous.

The interconnecting rooms, typically used to house guests, now hosted attractions so many and varied that the twins could barely take it all in.

The red room featured fire-eaters and an enormous, double spouted fountain-one half gushing blood, the other chocolate. The orange room boasted belly dancers and a sushi bar, and a wall-spanning TV in the yellow room screened a set list of horror movies and cult classics. Giant Venus fly traps, pitcher plants, and other exotic flora had been imported to the green room. Amongst the plants, monkeys, snakes, and tigers under vampiric compulsion wandered. The blue room was inexplicably filled with mimes, whipped cream, and bubbles. In the purple room, magicians and fortune-tellers provided their services amidst imported formations of glittering amethysts.

Throughout all the rooms, attractive wait staff offered trays of hors d'ouevres, as well as their wrists, to hungry guests.

What's more, surprises designed specifically for Jagger and Luna popped out at every corner; the dining room was now the site of a continuous Mad Hatter's tea party, much to Luna's delight. The main hallway displayed glass cases full of horror movie props and costumes, and another corridor served as a slip-n-slide.

Literally anything the twins had imagined in their wildest, most awesome and nonsensical dreams was available to them. It was mind-blowing.

Upon reaching the ballroom, Jagger and Luna stopped to breathe. The enormous space was fairly cramped and entirely dark, save for scores of neon lights bouncing off the mirrored walls, floors, and crystal chandeliers. The stage at the front of the room, which would, throughout the night, feature bands, dancers, Noh plays, Avant-Garde acting troupes, and an assortment of other bizarre entertainments, currently hosted a popular, Goth-Punk, all-vampire outfit.

In an odd but interesting turn, performers in masks traipsed about the room atop of giant, decorated balls, and trapeze artists flung themselves from ropes and swings attached to the mile-high ceilings.

"This is totally insane!" Luna shouted over the music.

Before Jagger could respond, he and Luna were attacked by a pair of loud, brightly colored blurs.

"Happy Freakin' Birthday!" Snake and Lenore shouted in unison as they hugged the twins. The strange vampire couple had gelled their hair straight up, so they looked like victims of a nasty electric shock, and they'd amassed their bodies with glow-in-the-dark jewelry. Also, they were both toting cans of silly string.

"Okay, this is definitely the most epic party in the history of ever," Claude Sterling declared, coming up behind Snake and Lenore with Kat by his side.

"Well, I guess if you're into this sort of thing..." Kat said, but she smiled at Jagger and Luna through her feigned indifference.

"Where are the other guys?" Luna asked curiously of the two apparently absent halflings.

"Well, Rocco's back a ways, cleaning you guys out of snacks," Claude answered lightly, "and Tripp is probably cowering in a closet somewhere."

_Poor Tripp, _Luna thought. She might have said as much, but at that moment a pair of instantly recognizable redheads joined their little cluster.

"Happy Birthday, Maxwells," Calix greeted with an ironic salute.

"Thanks, man," Jagger said with a grin. His smile widened when Jezebel stepped forward, looking, Jagger thought, otherworldly in leather pants and a scarlet corset. She was holding a long-necked, red-labeled bottle, whose contents Jagger could instantly guess.

"French courtesan, 1731," Jez stated, holding out the bottle.

"I've heard that's a good year," Jagger said brightly. He took the bottle under one arm and wound the other around Jez's slender waist.

"There's a hookah lounge with a Beethoven cover band down a ways from the indoor hedge maze," Jez suggested as she and the white-haired vampire slipped off, "and then there's the Jacuzzi outside..."

"True," Jagger nodded, "but if we want any sort of privacy, the balcony's the place to go.

In the ballroom, Calix and Claude gave Luna birthday hugs. Snake and Lenore had simply disappeared, and Kat had accepted a dance from a tall, violet-eyed vampire.

"So what now, oh Belle-of-the-Ball?" Claude asked Luna with a silly, over-the-top bow.

"Well I could use a bit of fresh air," Luna said thoughtfully.

"The in-ground pool outside's been turned into a mosh-pit," Calix offered, "It's pretty wild."

"Then lead the way!" Luna exclaimed happily, threading her arms around her companions shoulders. Honestly, she couldn't think of a better way to spend her last night of mortality-moshing it up with a pair of pretty punk boys.

XXX

By 6:02 am, the sun was about to rise, the party was over, and the twins were curled up at opposite ends of their parents huge, empty, claw-footed bathtub with a box of chocolates and a crystal decanter full of fruit punch (they'd brought champagne, but it tasted rather like cat puke.) As kids, they'd like to sit like this in the tub, pretending it could walk away on its stone talons. Now they were here because it was the only spot in the castle not suffering from party aftermath. Also, it was kind of nostalgic.

"Some freakin' party," Jagger said with quiet relish. He'd draped one leg over the tub, and his boot rested nicely on one of the claws.

"There is a word for what that was, and party isn't it," Luna declared. The tafetta of her dress whispered across the porcelain as she shifted, "Try 'brouhaha.'"

"That a real word?" Jagger grinned, "I like it."

Luna hummed her agreement as she popped another candy in her mouth. The chocolates were a gift, shaped like rosettes and filled with creams in peculiar flavors, like lavender, pumpkin, and hibiscus.

For a while, the twins were silent, simply enjoying each others' presence, as well as the piles of jewelry, CDs, books, clothes, and novelties strewn across the black-and-white tile floor amongst torn, glittering hunks of gutted wrapping paper. At last, Luna broke the peace.

"So, Jagger Maxwell," Luna said, propping her head against the lip of the tub, "What _are_ you going to do without me?"

Luna had meant the question in jest-she was sure Jagger would get on just fine when she was gone with Alexander-but Jagger didn't respond right away. When he did, it wasn't at all what Luna had expected.

"Honestly," The vampire teen said, looking out the window at the dawn threatening to break, "I haven't the slightest idea."

Luna's crystal blue eyes widened at the admission.

"For real?" She demanded. Luna had anticipated ironic laughter and rolled eyes from her brother, not this.

Jagger nodded as he took another saccharine sip of punch from his antique pewter goblet.

"I've actually thought about this for a while, and I've realized you're leaving me with a big problem:" Mismatched eyes never strayed from the window, "I'm gonna be so bored without you."

"You could take up stamp-collecting," Luna suggested glibly, but her twin's words resounded within.

"No. It's like this: I've gotten so used to having you, a built-in partner in crime," Jagger grinned, still looking away from his sister, "Now I'm going to need to find someone else to share-" he motioned to the waning night sky out the window, "-all this with."

Luna cut a glance at her brother; she saw where this was going, but still couldn't believe it.

"You don't mean..."

"I do."

Luna squealed and scooted forward to hug her twin.

"You're going to find the coolest girl ever," she enthused, as Jagger shook off the embrace, "I just know it."

Luna couldn't stop smiling. It was true that many people thought Jagger was selfish and cold, that he only cared about himself, but Luna knew they were wrong. The truth was, Jagger cared more than anybody she knew, but only about certain people, like her and Valentine. Now, with Luna gone, Jagger would need someone else to love, and Luna thought a little romance would do her brother well.

"Yes, yes, it's all very exciting," Jagger said with a roll of his eyes, "Now if you'll excuse me-" He rose slowly from the tub, "-I'm going to my room before I fry to death."

Luna grinned, knowing she'd embarrassed him.

"Happy birthday twin," She said, quietly but sincerely.

Jagger stopped at the doorway, smiled, and said, "Back atcha," before returning to the peaceful oblivion of his coffin while Luna watched the first rays of sun slice the sky.

**XXX**

**So now the twins have had there fun. I think they definitely deserve that whole insane brouhaha. I really hope I can wrap up Sixteen in the next chapter, but we'll just have to wait and see. On another note, I don't want to be one of those greedy people who constantly demands reviews, but they really do inspire me a lot, so for those of you who've put this story in your favorites or on alert, please consider speaking up and telling me what you think-it would really mean a lot!**


	27. Sixteen Part III

***Sigh* Yeah, I admit, I was waiting for a review, but it doesn't look like that'll happen, so I'll just cave and post. Reviews=MUCH less time between chapters.**

**~*Sixteen Part Three*~**

Jagger cracked open his coffin to see Luna slipping down the hallway in a floor-sweeping gown as white as her hair. The bodice was perfectly fitted from thick cream lace and studded with pearls. The skirt was layers of sheer chiffon, interwoven with black roses. Luna's wide blue eyes gleamed under the white, spiderweb-patterned veil, and she was utterly glowing. Jagger, half-blinded by all the white, was amazed by how grown-up his sister looked-not at all like an odd human girl, but like a woman.

"Good luck," he whispered, careful not to shatter the early evening stillness.

Under the veil, Luna beamed appreciatively before gliding down the hall and to her future. In that moment, she looked neither human nor vampire, but purely celestial.

XXX

The celebration of Luna and Alexander's wedding was to be held in the Maxwell's hastily cleaned and redecorated ballroom, but that never happened. As the hors d'oevres got cold, and the blood-based refreshments coagulated, Jagger stood up and strode up to Cassandra and Constantine Sterling, who'd been murmuring to each other in low, nervous voices for some time.

"What are you two whispering about?" Jagger demanded, steely-eyed.

The couple looked up at Jagger in guilty surprise.

_Deer-In-the-Headlights_, Jagger thought sneeringly.

"Why, nothing," Cassandra answered, just an instant too late.

"I don't see how it's any of your-" Constantine attempted to chastise Jagger, but he'd turned on his heel and headed for the door.

"Jagger? Where are you going, dear?" Lilith Maxwell called after him, concern barely hidden in her voice.

"Where do you think?" The teen snapped back, voice as cold as the icicles suspended from the eaves outside.

Jagger's boots crackled over the frostbitten earth as he passed through the iron gates of Hallow Grove Cemetery (or, as he and Luna had once graffittied over the sign, Shallow Grave Cemetery.) It was huge, ancient and well-kept, unlike the graveyard Luna and Jagger once played hide-and-seek in. Small dervishes of snow flakes swirled around Jagger while he headed for the cemetery's oldest section, obscuring his view and crystallizing on his leather jacket.

As he rounded a sepulcher, Jagger saw the black-draped table, with its candelabra and chalice, and then he saw Luna. Jagger's undead heart contracted painfully at the sight of her, hunched and kneeling on the frozen ground, skirts billowed out in a big puddle of white. She was sobbing, fine-boned face cradled in manicured hands, and trembling all over. Jagger had never seen her like this before.

"Loon," He breathed and ran over to the crying girl barely recognizable as his sister. He knelt beside her.

Luna looked up at Jagger with shattered-crystal eyes. Tear-diluted mascara made ugly rivulets of black down her cheeks.

"He...didn't want me," Luna barely whispered, "Said he couldn't love me. Am I so repulsive?"

At his sister's words, something dark and burning twisted within Jagger.

"Sterling," He growled, "I'll kill him."

Jagger got up, half-blind with rage and tugging Luna with him, but she stopped him.

"No," She said rustily, as though talking pained her, "No. Jagger, let's just...go somewhere else for a little while."

"What?" Jagger turned to look at his twin for clarification.

"I need to be...not here," Luna looked at him imploringly, "Please, just take me somewhere. Anywhere."

Jagger nodded, unable to deny Luna when she looked so much more like a lost child than herself.

"Okay."

The first night, Luna sobbed her eyes out, and Jagger had no idea what to do. After that, she went stoic, and that was even worse. Jagger had taken them to the Maxwell Summer Castle, their vacation home not far from Bat Beach. With its many balconies, turrets, and bizarre stone sculptures, the castle had always been Luna's favorite place to go.

The instant they'd arrived at the castle, shut up and barren for the winter, nostalgia hit Jagger like a speeding hearse. He remembered now, in vivid detail, how he and Luna used to play tag in the catacombs beneath this castle, drop balloons filled with all manner of horrid viscous substances from its balconies, lock each other in its wine cellar, and play pirates in the pond outside.

Now, all Luna did was sit out on the garden patio, reading Anne Rice novels by moonlight and eating Ben and Jerry's, while Jagger paced the grounds, imagining all the violent, unspeakable things he was going to do to Alexander Sterling.

"Jagger," Luna said one day, looking up from her island of dry stalks and dead roses, "What are you thinking about?"

Presently, he was thinking about Alexander's head on a stick, but he wasn't going to say that.

"Hm? Nothing."

Don't give me that-you've got your 'scheme-face' on," Luna said, nose wrinkling, "you're scheming."

Jagger stopped his pacing and looked at his sister more carefully. She was standing now, hands on her hips in an accusatory pose, and there was a light in her eyes that had been absent for some time. This alone relieved Jagger so much, he started laughing. Luna's puffy lips quirked downward in disapproval. Jagger sobered.

"I'm thinking," He said calmly, "about Alexander Sterling's up-and-coming demise."

"Well stop it," Luna snapped with a vehemence that surprised Jagger. She turned away.

"Luna," Jagger said, deadly serious now, "I hope you realize that Alexander is not going to get away with what he's done. I will have revenge."

"Fine," Luna huffed, and Jagger was surprised all over again.

"What did you say?" He must have misheard.

"I said fine," Luna repeated, voice unreadable, "have your revenge, then-I agree he deserves to suffer a bit-but don't you dare kill him.

"Why not?" Jagger asked, but he already knew.

Luna turned back toward Jagger. She stood very straight, and the light in her eyes had become a fire.

"Because I want him."

"Then you'll have him."

Jagger and Luna smiled at each other, looking every inch a pair of perfect devils, every inch twins.


	28. Seventeen Part I

**..And here we actually hit into the timeline of the books! This is sort of a missing scene between book two and book three. Just a fairly short, fairly silly chapter. There will be one more part to Seventeen-another missing scene that involves Raven and Alexander. Thanks for the reviews, and keep'em up-they're great ego boosts ^_^**

**~*Seventeen Part One*~**

Luna hummed a random tune as she pranced through the skull-print shower curtain that separated her half of the basement from Jagger's. Music from the Coffin Club pulsed through the concrete ceiling, loud enough for Luna to dance to. She caught sight of her twin and sighed; the other teen was preoccupied with an array of maps he'd spread across the floor, marking, re-marking, and re-re-marking one he'd titled "Dullsville" with black Sharpie.

"You need a break," Luna declared.

Jagger barely grunted. He had been this way ever since Luna's arrival in America-intense and distant. It was no fun.

"If this is about Raven," Luna continued to forge through the silence, "it's nobody's fault she doesn't remember us."

"I know," Jagger responded flatly. They'd had this conversation already. Humans rarely remembered brief encounters with vampires, like the one between Raven and Jagger when they were thirteen. The human brain was programmed to erase such occurrences.

"It's amazing we met her again at all," Luna refused to let the conversation die without a proper burial.

"I always knew I would," Jagger said quietly, and his tone made Luna shut up.

All the same, she wouldn't let Jagger ruin her good mood. She'd just have to change tactics. With overdone breeziness, Luna trotted over to the tall, antique mirror (bought for irony's sake, of course) to examine her non-existent reflection. She preened for a moment, as though something more than a view of the room behind her was present in the reflective glass.

"What do you think," Luna bunched up her hair to evaluate the slinky, black-lace tube top she'd scored last night in a Hipsterville shop, "too slutty?"

At last, Jagger looked up from his maps, blinking.

"Luna," he said slowly, "please never ask me anything like that again."

"I suppose there's some merit to that Hot Gothics place," Luna acted as though Jagger hadn't spoken, "but I really do prefer boutique shopping."

Jagger didn't even bother responding. Luna shifted around a bit in front of the mirror before returning to her side of the curtain. Jagger enjoyed the moment of solitude as Luna slipped out of her pink silk pajama boxers into a romantic, knee-grazing black skirt. She re-emerged with a hum of satisfaction.

Jagger had already noted that his sister was even more hyperactive as a vampire, but other than that, the change suited her well. She seemed happy, at least.

"I'm taking you out," Luna proclaimed authoritatively. She jingled the keys to her hot pink convertible bug to illustrate, and Jagger winced.

"With the Coffin Club right here," Jagger chose his words carefully, "I thought you would've wanted to party."

Luna rolled her cobalt eyes heavenward.

"I _have_ partied," The pixie-goth insisted with a grand sigh, "Last night, my plane landed. I partied-" She motioned toward the ceiling, from which the strains of a remixed Alice Cooper song could be heard, "-up there, while you slunk off to mope and look at maps and be cryptic. Then I met Ruby and Onyx who then brought me to upwards of _eighteen_ different clubs at which we partied;" Luna crossed her arms over her lace-shrouded chest, "I am _sick_ of partying."

"Eighteen clubs?" Jagger raised his eyebrows, impressed.

"At least," Luna confirmed, "and not all goth. I'm talking Skwee, Thai-Punk, Visual-Kai, Moombahton, Folktronica…"

She ticked the not-even-real-sounding club genres off on her fingers.

Jagger widened his mismatched eyes.

Luna matched his stare, "Oh yeah. There is some weird stuff going on in this city."

"How did you find the time to shop?" Jagger wondered.

Luna realized he was distracting her. She waved her hand, "That's not important."

"Fine," Jagger humored her, "What is it that your taking me out to?"

"Midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show," Luna responded succinctly, "Scarlet told me where it's at."

"The…what now?" Jagger frowned. As a rule, he avoided pop-culture, which, in Jagger's mind, all cinema, "That is…the one that has something to do with boxing?"

"You're naiveté is adorable," Luna shook her head in amusement, before adding in mystical tones, "all will be revealed in time."

"You know I don't like movies."

"Mm. Poor cultured you. Too bad."

"Luna, I'm really not in the mood," Jagger said impassively. He didn't feel like playing along anymore.

"Look, we're leaving for Dullsville tomorrow, right?" Luna waited for Jagger to nod before continuing, "Well, if it's really as lame as you say it is there, and if we're going to be busting our butts doing all manner of devious, scheme-y things, shouldn't we have a little fun while we can?"

Jagger listened wordlessly to Luna's appeal. Once she finished, he just stared. Luna drooped. She was about to tell him to just forget it when Jagger spoke up.

"I'm not riding in your ridiculous car. Please try not to crash my hearse."

Luna practically squealed with delight.

"Excellent. Now all we need is some playing cards, news papers, and water pistols. Oh, and toast."

Jagger gave his sister a hard look. Luna grinned in response.

"Just be glad I'm not making you dress up."

"What the hell am I getting myself into?" Jagger wondered aloud.

"You'll be obsessed by the end of it, you know."

"Oh, I'm _sure_."


	29. Seventeen Part II

**Last (ish) chapter. This takes place during the third book (kind of a missing scene) when Raven and Alexander discovered Jagger and Luna's coffins in the tree house. After this, there will be an epilogue (Eighteen,) and then this story will be *sniff* over! Please enjoy and review! **

**OoO**

Raven Madison ran her black-tipped fingers across the delicate silk of one of Luna's dresses.

"What are they doing here, I wonder," the goth girl murmured to Alexander Sterling, "in Dullsville, I mean. Not the tree house."

The dark-haired vampire examined the crumpled collection of maps piled around Jagger's coffin.

"They're planning something," Alexander answered at length, "I just wish I knew what."

"All you had to do was ask," a voice, cold as winter, froze Raven and Alexander in their tracks. Jagger Maxwell leaned against the tree-house opening, subtlety blocking the exit. Moonlight glinted off his dagger shaped eyebrow stud and red snakeskin jacket. He was grinning, but there was a cruel twist to his mouth.

A decidedly schoolgirlish giggle came from the tree-house's only window, where Luna was perched with one gazelle-delicate leg folded over the other. She wore a tight, sheer spiderweb-patterned dress over chunky black platform boots, and shimmering onyx earings that dangled like black stars against her snowy hair and flesh. She was grinning like a wicked child.

"Wow, it is just _so_ great to see you two," Luna bubbled to the dark-haired couple before her, "Especially _you_, Alexander. No offense Raven, but we have history."

"Ancient history," Raven interjected through gritted teeth. Despite her waifish stature, Luna Maxwell was intimidating, but Raven wasn't the sort to back down.

"Luna," Alexander addressed the new vampiress sincerely, "I wish I could have told you—"

"_Tsss,_" From the doorway, Jagger made a noise not unlike a snake's warning hiss.

"Let's not change the subject," Luna said airily, popping up from the window ledge and half-dancing across the wood floor.

You wanted to know our reason for being here," Jagger reminded Raven and Alexander. Like his sister, Jagger sauntered closer to the intruders. Casually and ominously, the Maxwells were closing in

"Right, right," Luna nodded enthusiastically, "so make yourselves comfy and I'll tell you the story."

Alexander was too diplomatic to resist when Luna shoved him down to sit on her cotton candy-hued coffin; too shocked to resist when she plopped down on his lap. Raven made an indignant sound and started forward but was stopped by a pair of hard, skinny arms crossing around her middle. She chould feel the cool slickness of Jagger's snakeskin jacket on the bare backs of her arms.

"Let go," Raven demanded tersely, glad for the rice powder make-up that hid her blush.

"Hush," Jagger chided gently. He rested his chin on Raven's head.

"Jagger..." Alexander's voice was low and uncharacteristically menacing.

If looks could kill, Jagger would be a smoking pile of ash, but they couldn't, so instead of disintegrating, the white-blond smiled beatifically at his nemesis. Alexander could do nothing about it with Luna propped up on his lap. Currently, the vampiress was playing with the buttons on his shirt.

"Please get off of me Luna," Alexander said in controlled tones, "_Now._"

"Hm," Luna looked up at her one time-betrothed through a fringe of babydoll lashes. She smiled drowsily, and Raven was hit with the terrible dichotomy Luna exuded—a cross between a little girl and a seductress.

"Okay," Luna agreed at length, "but you two have to sit down and listen nicely."

Alexander gave a near imperceptible nod, and Luna hopped back up. Jagger released Raven with a playful little spin that landed her on his coffin lid.

"You're in a good mood tonight," Raven remarked acidly as Jagger sat down beside her.

"I'm having a good night," He quipped back.

Assured that Alexander and Raven wouldn't be going anywhere, Luna stood herself begween the two coffins and began her promised story.

"Once upon a time," her sweet voice fluted, "there was a boy and a girl—twins. Two sweet, innocent, doe-eyed children."

At this, Raven's face twisted in surprise, Alexander quirked a brow, and Jagger choked on sarcastic laughter.

"Okay, so maybe they had a bit of a tendency toward mischief," Luna conceded with a huff."

"That's one way of putting it," Jagger muttered, amused.

"_Any_way," Luna went on as though her brother hadn't spoken, "Unusual circumstances surrounded the children, for the girl had been born with a curse. A curse that made her different from everyone around her—even her parents. Even her twin brother.

"Luna..." Alexander murmured, almost involuntarily. Luna ignored him, her cobalt eyes narrowed.

"It was hard for the children. They had to grow up in separate worlds, never really understanding each other." Luna's gaze flickered to Jagger, who was watching her with unusual intensity, "Twins ought to be together."

"Amen to that," Jagger drawled.

Luna had a small smile on her lips as she continued, "The girl longed to be a part of her brother's world, but there was something else she longed for even more. Some_one_ else."

The smile dissipated when Luna locked eyes with Alexander. The black-haired teen returned the gaze, steadily and earnestly. Raven's fingers tightened on the coffin lid. Jagger slipped his hand over hers to stop the motion.

"A boy who would make all her dreams come true," Luna pronounced each word distinctly, "her prince. Her knight in dark armor."

"More like a coward in aluminum foil," Jagger put in acidly.

"My story—no interruptions," Luna chided her twin before Raven or Alexander could protest, "Now where was I?"

"Your '_knight,_'" Jagger reminded with a sneer.

"Oh yes. Her knight, he was the one who would save her. So she waited, like a good little girl, for her happily ever after," Luna's voice had gone hard, "But do you know what? It _never came_. Her knight, he—"

"Ran away," Jagger filled in coldly when Luna didn't continue, and this time she didn't scold him.

"Yes," she said quietly, "he abandoned her. Like he didn't know he was to remove her curse. Like he didn't know she loved him. Like he didn't care."

Alexander couldn't meet Luna's gaze any longer. Raven felt something inside her twist, responding to Luna's tale. For the moment, the white-haired girl seemed unable to speak.

"She was heartbroken," Jagger said in his twin's silence. He aimed the words like arrows at Alexander, who for once had nothing to say to his shock-goth nemesis.

"Yes," Luna said again, snapping out of her trance, "but her twin—he was a good brother, and he helped her pick up the pieces."

Raven and Alexander wore matching frowns. They found it hard to imagine Jagger being truly kind or gentle towards anyone, even his own sister.

"And then?" Alexander asked resignedly, "what happened next?"

"So glad you asked," Jagger said with a shark-like smirk. A similar expression found its way onto Luna's face as she went on.

"Well, the twins, they were a bit...put out. One might say they were _bloodthirsty,_" At this, she flashed her fangs, "the girl was finished being the good little princess waiting in her tower. She did what she needed to make herself strong."

No one had to ask what it was the girl did, not with Luna's fangs bared in illustration.

"The only thing left was to find her runaway knight."

"Which she did," Jagger supplied.

"Mm. But she found him with another," Luna's eyes flashed like blue lightening at Raven, "A dark witch."

"I think your story's done," Alexander interjected coldly.

"No. You've got it all turned around," Luna hummed, "it'd only just begun."

"What does the other twin have to do with this?" Raven blurted, "The boy. What does he want?"

"The boy," Luna repeated thoughtfully, looking up at the wood ceiling, "well, he's there on his sister's behalf, that's part of it"

She paused to consider. Even Jagger seemed interested in what she would say next.

"The truth is, he's always been lonely too," Luna decided eventually, "it's time he had someone to share the night with."

"And as it turns out," Jagger added, giving Raven a playful squeeze, "he's got this thing for witches."

Alexander started to get up, but Luna stopped him by placing a well-manicured hand over his chest.

"You see," she smiled cooly "they're taking control of this f—d up fairytale."

"They've learned the secret to 'happily ever after,'" Jagger added in an irony-laden tone, "It's force."

"You have to _make_ your happy ending happen," Luna agreed, "And believe you me, we _will_ have ours."


	30. Epilogue: Eighteen

**...And this, my dear readers, is the end. The epilogue. At least, for my story—let's all be glad the Maxwells are immortal ^_^**

**Anyway, yeah. This story has been a hell of a ride, and I'm grateful to all of you for making it so much fun! I have some other ideas for Vampire Kisses stories, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to them. Feel free to take a peek at them on my profile, and let me know if there are any that you'd really be interested in seeing written.**

**Also, blazey, Jagger/Raven is my absolute FAVORITE pairing, but I work it into the ending of this story. I'd love to write another story, maybe a three-shot, that's Jagger/Raven. We'll see...**

**So anyway, I'll stop babbling so you all can (hopefully) enjoy the conclusion of "Dawn and Dusk."**

**OoO**

**~*Epilogue: Eighteen*~**

The last community of exclusively pure-blooded Ba'al vampires is housed in the crumbling ruins of a grand, white marble building in the mountains of Greece. Said building is perched precariously at the edge of a sheer cliff, and its stilting columns are known to give way, threatening to send its occupants hurtling into the warm, azure waters below. No sane person would set foot in it—unless, of course, they happen to be immortal.

For the hundred-or-so vampires dwelling within, this place is a sanctuary for Ba'al men, women, and children who wish to keep the traditional vampire ways while coexisting peacefully with the modern world. It is an archaic institution, but Jagger and Luna know better than to scoff at it. Here, they are not just a pair of cryptic goth teens—they are vampire royalty. The Ba'al Frat House, as they teasingly called it, was the perfect place for their brief vacation.

After Valentine's safe return and Phoenix's intervention at the Coffin Club, Jagger and Luna decided they deserved this little break. Valentine, as well, because they'd be damned (if they weren't already, that is) if they were going to leave him alone again.

"You know, one could get used to this," Luna sighed. She and Jagger were lounging on the roof of the ancient structure, over looking the turquoise ocean waters far below and sipping at goblets filled with a glorious mixture of blood, ouzo, and honey that was intoxicating in more ways than one.

"No kidding," Jagger said back as he stared, hypnotized, at the waves slamming against the dark cliff face and jagged rocks below.

Greece was a good place for vampires. Here, even humans slept most of the day away, and the towns came alive at night with warm-blooded youth taking its cues from Dionysus and Aphrodite. Also, there was an exotic, mystical quality to the culture; the past and present thrived in these ancient cities with equal strength.

"Of course," the young man added ruefully, "we don't have that luxury."

The Maxwell twins were eighteen tonight. They were no longer screamy-dreamy children, or raving, rebellious teens; they were adults. Luna had come into her own as a vampiress, and Jagger's talent for scheming had transmuted itself into a flare for business. They both discovered a sense of ruthlessness that had previously lain dormant; Jagger and Luna knew what they wanted out of life, and they knew how to take it.

"I know," Luna sighed, gazing at the fiercely silver waning moon above, "but..it's nice here. Doesn't feel like it's us against the world."

"But isn't that how we like it?" Jagger said it like a joke, but that was the honest truth. All the same, he knew what Luna meant. He liked being surrounded by other vampires who were unapologetic in their strangeness, rather than desperate to blend in with the human world. There were no facades here, and none of the loneliness Jagger sometimes felt all too keenly. But he also missed humans. Part of Jagger longed now for the fragile and beautiful coexistence he'd created in the coffin club, which he'd left in Onyx's (hopefully) capable hands for the duration of his trip.

"True," Luna conceded, "but it's a welcome break. And Valentine's loving it."

Since leaving Dullsville, Luna and Jagger realized that Valentine still missed the one human friend he'd made there—a one William Madison, whose sister was very familiar to both of the elder Maxwell siblings. They wondered it it was some curse the three of them shared, to always be pulled apart, one way or another, from the ones they loved; to always be lonely. Each of the siblings had had to leave the objects of their (somewhat twisted) affections behind in that town. Regardless, Valentine had discovered a gaggle of vampire children in the Ba'al house, all of whom were thoroughly in awe of his skateboard and the tricks he could do on it.

"So we'll enjoy this while it lasts," Jagger concluded.

"Cause we've got a hell of a year ahead of us," Luna agreed with a flash of her old wicked grin.

Despite previous setbacks, the Maxwell twins were not through with Dullsville, or a certain gothic, black-haired couple who inhabited it. In fact, plans were already in place. The games had just begun, and Jagger and Luna were playing for keeps.

The eighteen-year-old vampires shared one last flickering glance before stepping back from their ledge, then charging forward to take simultaneous running leaps off the roof. Laughter bubbled from their fanged mouths as the twins' pale, skinny bodies sliced through the rushing darkness, and eventually the aquamarine waters below. Within the Ba'al house, a clock struck midnight, and the sound flooded Luna and Jagger's ears when they re-emerged. Treading water, the twins bore witness to this magical time of night, precisely in the middle of dawn and dusk. At this moment they knew:

They have eternity, and they have each other. And that is more than enough.


End file.
